Solomon Islands theatre engages community in awareness of violence

A Solomon Islands theatre project is using performance to celebrate women and publically discuss violence and its impact on all of the island nation's society.

The theatre project, Stages of Change, encompasses a Survivors of Violence workshop which engages the whole community in raising awareness about violence, taking men in partnership with women.  Using a mix of contemporary and traditional theatre, the costume and dance reminds the audience of the power and importance of women. Theatre Leader, New Zealand-Fijian Nina Nawalowalo, says "When we present these images back to our men they are deeply moved. They see the long line of women who are their mothers and grandmothers going back to another time".

Studies indicate the prevalence of violence against women in the Solomon Islands is high.  The Solomon Islands Family Health and Safety Study published in 2009 indicated nearly 2 in 3 (64%) ever-partnered women, aged 15–49, experienced physical or sexual violence, or both, by an intimate partner with 42% of women experiencing physical and/or sexual partner violence in the last 12 months.  Most women who reported physical violence by an intimate partner also experienced sexual partner violence. The study A Deeper Silence: The Unheard Experiences of Women with Disabilities: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Violence against Women in Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Tonga, published in 2013, undertook situation analyses to gain an understanding of the opportunities and needs experienced by women with disabilities to realise their sexual and reproductive rights. The study indicated disabled women were more vulnerable than the general population, evidenced by the combination of number of women interviewed who had experienced sexual violence and women's beliefs they were targeted because of their disability. The joint nature of poverty and disability only further increased the women's vulnerability and exclusion.

While the Solomon Islands have a government-endorsed policy which focus on eliminating violence against women, progress on women's rights in the Pacific Islands is "slow and inconsistent" according to the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF). PIF Secretariat's gender adviser Seema Naidu said "Women already have limited rights within our small societies...It's largely limited by patriarchy, by culture and the different conditions there (in the Pacific)". Geographic isolation means women often have no access to legal aid, health services or police protection.  Natural disasters, such as the recent earthquakes and floods in the Solomon Islands, also further intensifies situations. Naidu said "[Women] are the last ones to eat and they become the managers, the ones that try to ensure that there's food," she said. "It's an added burden of responsibility."

The excitement around the Stages of Change theatre project means they are ready to take the message to an international audience. "Leoni" a theatre performer says "I lived with the stigma that I was a bad person. Now, because of this workshop, I look people in the eye. There is light at the end of the tunnel". View a performance on the Facebook page.

Media

Solomon Islands women empowered by theatre, Radio NZ, 16.02.2015

Light at the end of the tunnel, NZ Herald, 29.03.2014

Slow progress on Pacific women's rights, MSN News, 08.03.2014