ACNS - Violence against women in Pacific undermines region, says aid agency

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

Violence against women in Pacific undermines region, says aid agency

Posted On : September 7, 2011 2:39 PM | Posted By : Admin ACO
ACNS:
<http://www.aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2011/9/7/ACNS4937>http://www.aco.org/acns 
/news.cfm/2011/9/7/ACNS4937

Related Categories:

<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/ACO--Anglican-Alliance>ACO
- Anglican
Alliance,  <http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/Global>Global

Levels of violence against women in parts of the
Pacific are ?horrific? and must be addressed if
development is to have any chance in the Pacific
region, said an Australian aid agency head today.
Speaking from the Solomon Islands, CEO of
Anglicord Misha Coleman said that over 60% of
women in Solomon Islands report some kind of violence by an intimate partne r.

?Over half of the women in the Solomon Islands
have been forced into sex against their will,? she said.

Ms Coleman, responding to a campaign released
yesterday by Amnesty International, ?Change the
Lights on Women?s Rights?, said that women in
many parts of the Pacific were especially
vulnerable to gender based violence because few
of the countries had effective laws specifically
to tackle it, and those countries which do have
legislation to prevent domestic violence don't necessarily enforce them.

?Development requires the ability of women to
earn an income, care for their families, and
enjoy the protection of the law,? said Ms
Coleman. ?The horrific levels of physical
violence against women in our region are a
manifestation of a systematic discrimination that
prevents women from being able to fulfil their potential.?

Ms Coleman urged the leaders at the Pacific Forum
meeting in Auckland this week to consider this issue.

?The lack of women in the parliaments represented
at this forum is illustrative of the low priority
given to the status of women,? she said.
?Australia, as a Pacific nation, must show
leadership on this issue and encourage the full
participation of women in society in our
neighbours? countries. We can do this by offering
expertise, encouraging aid programs that empower
women, and setting a good example.?

"Given that nearly one in five women in Australia
have suffered a sexual assault, and only 10% of
executive managers in ASX200 companies are women,
I suggest that we have some work to do here in Australia, too,? she said.

Gender based violence leaves women vulnerable not
only to poverty and homelessness but to
trafficking and HIV and AIDS infection. Ms
Coleman said that the growing presence of
extractive industries, particularly commercial
logging, contributed to the problem through
commercial and unprotected sex, and forced marriage to foreign loggers.

Ms Coleman is currently in the Solomon Islands
for a meeting of the Anglican Alliance Pacific
Consultation, a gathering of Anglican aid agencies from around the world.

?The Churches are the backbone of society in the
Pacific, and Anglican agencies are able to work
with the people of the Pacific to effect
real change around attitudes to women,? she said.

Anglicord is an Anglican overseas aid agency
which funds programs to try to reduce gender
based violence in the Solomon Islands and other parts of the developing wor ld.

> ENDS

Ms Coleman is available for comment ? contact
Jane Still: 041 862 7043, 03 9495 6100,
<mailto:jstill@anglicord.org.au>jstill@anglicord.org.au

> www.anglicord.org.au