RECOMMENDATION 15: Ensure journalists are able to report on family violence in a manner which protects victims and enhances national understanding of the nature and causes. • • National standards for reporting on family violence. Regular training for journalists and monitoring and evaluation of impact. INQUIRY FINDING 27: The media can and does increase the risk of family violence by promoting gender stereotypes and other harmful attitudes that cause it. There have been calls in the media recently for the banning of films which heavily feature sexuality33 and concern over local adverts which show violence. 34 Freedom of expression is an essential part of a free democracy and one which must be protected, especially when imitations are called for because of a modicum of offence caused. The Inquiry rejects calls to place blanket bans and favours education over censorship, to avoid the slippery slope towards the erosion of freedom of expression that other countries have experienced. “You have to be careful when imposing restrictions on things like media and social media. Control is the easy option. Education is the harder choice to take.” Justice Vui Clarence Nelson, Family Violence Workshop, Apia, November 2017 The Inquiry agrees wholeheartedly with Justice Vui that restrictions on media are not an approach that should be adopted in this context. For one, they are usually ineffective and people always find ways around any restrictions imposed. Secondly, it does not address the heart of the matter which is that these types of media only have an audience and an impact when education is lacking. A good example of this is pornography in Samoa, which is now easily accessible by anyone with a smart phone and access to the internet with a growing percentage of the younger population. This is increasingly the first encounter many young boys have with sex, given the lack of sexual education in schools and a general reluctance to talk about it at homes or in the community. The Inquiry has heard several accounts of those working in the police, the courts, prisons and media where young boys have watched pornography on a phone and then tried what they had seen for themselves, often with a young unwilling family member. It is not possible to ensure the total prohibition of pornography and neither would this address the real root cause of the issue which is a lack of understanding of healthy relationships and what is right and wrong when it comes to sex. By refusing to have these conversations with the children 33 Samoa Observer. “Call for ‘Fifty Shades Freed’ to be banned.” (18 February 2017). Retrieved from www.sobserver.ws/en/10_02_2018/local/29840/Call-for-‘Fifty-Shades-Freed’-to-be-banned.htm. 34 MJCA Family Violence Workshop Report. Document 70 Inquiry anthology.