approach has been adopted by the Anglican Diocese of Polynesia centered in Fiji which has declared a ‘No
Tolerance of Violence’ approach. Such an approach can encompass a variety of measures from preventing
those who have been found guilty of family violence holding positions of authority within the church, to
additional home visits for those deemed at risk. It is up to the church to formulate their own approach
but based on a comprehensive understanding of family violence and the harmful interpretations of the
Bible which must be avoided.
RECOMMENDATION 21: Churches to refrain from promoting attitudes from
which family violence breeds and to become a leading actor in preventing family
violence.
Faifeau participation in Family Village Safety Committees.
Comprehensive training for faifeaus on the nature, causes and
consequences of family violence, the impact of which to be monitored.
Church participation in the development of a family safety theology.
Guidance for church ministers on how to promote non-violence and
preach a non-violence theology.
Carry out marriage counseling in their parishes similar to the programme
now implemented by Harvest Centre Church.
Re-establishment of regular visits to those within a congregation to
develop close links, increase spiritual guidance and act as an early warning
system and preventive mechanism against family violence.
Limitations set on church obligations, linked to financial capacity of
families.
14.5 Data Collection
INQUIRY FINDING 32: Data collection on family violence is sub-standard, not
disaggregated and routinely misreports the true scale of the problem,
undermining the few efforts to combat it.
“When performance is measured and reported, the rate of improvement
accelerates.” – Pearson’s Law.
Vaipou Fetuliai Lagaaia, Lawyer, Inquiry Participant
The few prevention and protection mechanisms, programmes and policies that do currently exist are
undermined by a lack of reliable data, M & E. Decision making is not currently based on realities and the
true scale of the problem is still unknown. The solutions put forward in this Report are therefore all presupposed by a strong M & E element so that progress over time can be tracked and risk factors and
consequences of family violence better understood.
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