monitor children at risk of violence and apply for court protection orders if necessary. If a child was deemed to be taken into custody then the costs would be borne by the Government and it appears that this is the biggest stumbling block. However, the Inquiry has already found that the cost of not addressing family violence in this manner amounts to millions, irrespective of the moral and legal argument that Government has a responsibility to intervene when a child is at risk. The commendable legislative reform programme that has been achieved since the ratification of CEDAW is unfortunately not matched by its implementation and the Inquiry found various examples of a lack of awareness or willingness meaning that the legislative reform had little to no impact. As the Attorney General commented in his evidence to the Inquiry, “the application of the law will depend on social attitudes”. A good example is the ‘no drop policy’ in relation to complaints of domestic violence made to the Police provided under the Family Safety Act 2013 sections 15 and 16. In theory such provisions are a good way to introduce accountability for perpetrators, to act as a deterrent and to send a message to society that it will not be tolerated. However, application of the policy appears to be patchy and the officers who gave evidence to the Inquiry demonstrated varying degrees of understanding of the policy and willingness to apply it. Some fully supported and implemented it, whilst others had not heard of it or believed it to not yet be in force. The lack of implementation of the programme of legislative reform appears to derive from a lack of understanding or knowledge among law enforcement officials and the general public, and an unwillingness to abide by it because it contradicts engrained social attitudes. “Notwithstanding these developments (legislative reform), acceptance of family violence still exists and presents a real challenge in reducing this issue.” Savalenoa Mareva Betham-Annandale, Family Law Barrister and Solicitor, Inquiry public hearings This conclusion lends greater weight to the Inquiry finding that current Government policies and programmes do not sufficiently address the root causes of family violence.Furthermore, whilst the programme of reform has indeed been commendable, there has been no M & E of any impact. It appears that for some decision makers the law is a means to an end, and that end might simply be giving the impression of social progress. If the Inquiry is wrong in this conclusion, then there should be no problem with reviewing the approach to implementation to identify why it has been slow to date and establishing an effective M&E framework to ensure effectiveness. INQUIRY FINDING 33: Samoa’s family violence legislative framework is relatively strong, but implementation and monitoring of effectiveness is weak or non-existent.