means that any response will not be comprehensive and therefore contributing to the perpetration of family violence. INQUIRY FINDING 21: Women (and other specific groups) are systemically obstructed in their participation in the Village Fono, Parliament and Church, further entrenching the patriarchal system and jeopardising the success of any attempt to address family violence through not taking due consideration of the voices of those most directly affected. 8. Prevention Framework Attitudes, beliefs, practices and representation have a direct impact on the prevention and protection frameworks. If slapping your wife for disobedience is commonly accepted as justified then there will be no protection for victims of such action or efforts to prevent it happening in the future. Similarly, if women are not represented within decision making institutions, the interests of women are unlikely to be reflected in national policies and programmes. It is therefore important to consider the context of the previous chapter when assessing the current prevention and protection frameworks and how successful they are in addressing family violence. Any proposed solutions must also take into account the findings in the previous chapter and address attitudes, beliefs, practices and representation to ensure their success. This chapter first looks at how prevention of family violence is approached in Samoa today, how successful it is, and seeks to identify any areas for improvement. 8.1 Education and Awareness Attitudes and beliefs play a key role in the content of education and national awareness initiatives, which in turn has an impact on the risk of family violence. The Inquiry has so far determined a multitude of ways in which the patriarchal system of society is maintained and how victims are often blamed and shamed for the violence they experience. Unfortunately, those attitudes appear to have an impact on the way children are educated too. 8.1.1 Education Childhood is the most important and influential time of any person’s life in deciding how they view and interact with the world and the two biggest influences on a child are their parents and their teachers. It is therefore essential that the content and delivery of the national curriculum is effective in giving children the skills and knowledge they need to live a peaceful life free of violence. However, the reality today appears to be the opposite and that the current approach reinforces many of the beliefs and practices that the Inquiry has found to contribute towards the prevalence of violence. For instance, the Health and Physical Education Teacher guide for years 9-10 advises that “girls may be