[File Photo]

The ongoing 16-day activism campaign emphasizes the crucial need for sustained awareness of gender-based violence.

Principal Strategic for Pacific Women and Girls Mereseini Rakuita, underscores this necessity, citing a lack of comprehensive understanding of human rights among community members.

She emphasizes the goal of motivating and empowering women and girls to assert their rights as individuals.

“It aims to again bring awareness to this epidemic that exists in our region and particularly in our country as well. It’s an opportunity to talk about the issues surrounding gender-based violence, the responses available, but also the opportunities that exist that we as individuals and as a community must be aware of.”

Former Magistrate Salote Kaimacuata says that there is also a need to strengthen the services and laws available for women.

“Many countries have domestic violence laws, but it took a long time to get them passed. But the more challenging beat is implementing and encouraging women, children, and survivors of domestic violence to develop help-seeking behaviour and not be afraid, despite the stigma that most of us will experience because we tend to be harsh on ourselves instead of encouraging people to come out of that cycle”

The 16 activism for gender-based violence began yesterday and will end on the 10th of next month.