The gender hierarchy (which leads to the unequal power dynamic in turn leading to family violence) is intensified when a woman goes to live with her husband’s family and becomes a nofotane, just as in the cases of Lote,27 Pandora,28 Lusia29 and thousands more like them across Samoa. “Nofotane are especially vulnerable because of the position society places them in, and the power over them the husband and his family has.” Mercy Ah Siu-Maliko, ‘A Public Theology Response to Domestic Violence in Samoa’, Inquiry document 39 What is becoming clear throughout the Report is that where power is placed in the hands of a single person or group of people, with no oversight or accountability mechanisms, it creates the breeding ground for family violence. That is not to say it is inevitable as there are many relationships within which violence does not play a part. However, the unequal power relations simply create the platform for it to flourish. This appears to be true within the family unit in the various situations described in Part III and includes IPV. The power of an abusive partner is increased over a nofotane because they have the support of their entire family as was evident in the case of Lusia, whose in-laws stood by and watched as her husband beat her, even when she was pregnant. For many in Samoa, the in-laws become the abusers as well, like Pandora who was beaten and verbally abused by everyone in her household. It is therefore clear that the Fa’asamoa is being used to reinforce the gender hierarchy and create unequal power relations that lead directly to the perpetuation and growth of family violence. “The imposition of this power imbalance is a breach of the principle of the vā tapuia. Power imbalances put women at risk of violence, physical and nonphysical.” Samoan people’s understanding of primary prevention of violence against women’, Inquiry document 91 The Inquiry finds that it is not just women placed at risk of physical and non-physical violence but anyone within an unequal relationship, and that this threatens part of the foundation of the Fa’asamoa principle of vā tapuia. INQUIRY FINDING 17: The Fa’asamoa is widely used and misused to reinforce the patriarchal society, which is at the heart of all family violence. 27 Case Study 18. Case Study 19. 29 Case Study 20. 28