The Samoa Victim Support Group is working closely with UNESCO to revive the traditional Samoan culture of male to respect women and girls.
The project is funded by the Spotlight Initiative to help eliminate violence.
In taking ownership of the project focus, SVSG had taken the global #WithHer Campaign and localised it, modifying its title to #SamoaWithHer.
The 12-month project is fronted by the SVSG Juniors, the youth sub-group of SVSG, as part of the UNESCO Spotlight Initiative.
The program will see YOUTH, putting the Spotlight on RESPECT – Faaaloalo – to help eliminate violence against women and girls.
The project builds on the rationale that while the Samoan culture supports male respect for women and girls, Samoan society has been undergoing changes.
These changes have created a different reality that legitimises violence, while traditional practices shift to the acceptable norm, that it is okay for a man to beat his wife.
The culture of violence and abuse of girls has therefore reflected a change built on the erosion of traditional values.
SVSG says this project is an attempt to bring the values to life as living traditions while empowering survivors of violence to take charge of their lives.
The expected outcome would be behavioral and mentality change amongst the youth on aspects of the Samoan culture of respect, which if revived, would assist in eliminating violence against women and girls.
It involves mentoring activities for the youth, setting up virtual knowledge platforms on social media, and promoting international networking.
It is fronted by 250 Youth Social Animators, selected from more than 50 church and village youth groups in Samoa, registered as SVSG Junior members.