BY MAINE LIVETT
Isles Media Freelance Reporter in Gizo
WOMEN are reminded not to consider the Family Protection Act as a tool for their personal advantage to degrade their partners.
Gizo Based Family Lawyer. Andrew Bosa pointed out during an event to mark 16 days of activism against sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Gizo, Western Province.
He pointed out situation in which, “I come across situations where victims of domestic violence are the initiator of the problem. The victim then comes to report cases of domestic violence in law, they used law as their sword and take advantage to destroy their partner.” Bosa pointed out.
“In that case whilst we respect each other’s right under laws, I must strongly remind us that all our rights under the law must come with responsibility, because in Solomon Islands we are also bound by Christian values and culture, and the law is only there to protect us and not to destroy us.” He added.
The Family lawyer said most times people look only on the victims’ side, while pre-judging and not considering the side of perpetrators, to fully understand why an incident occurs.
Bosa said during outreach to communities, people pointed out a realistic point in relation to the family protection act.
“People asked me” he said, ‘what if a wife goes out for dancing, which is against our Christian value and the husband whipped her for that, then she uses that law to defend herself.’
Bosa said, he acknowledges that point being raised, and so reminded women especially not to think that the Family Protection Act is a tool that can be used against their male partner, as the law protects both genders.
He held that most times during 16 days of activism, views are hugely on the victim side, but in his view, it’s best to look at both the victim and perpetrator sides, to search into the root of problems in order to come up with the best conclusion.
“every time we see perpetrators as the bad people, but nothing happened out of nowhere, men were being provoked too, so sometimes we have to go deep, to solve problems.” He pointed out
“The law is here to protect everyone, so it is better to look at the views of both sides.” He explained
Bosa said, the number of cases is also increasing compared to past years, which he come up with two observations: one is, in the past men have more respect for women and vice versa, thus occurrences of cases of violence in the family were less.
The other observation is that people nowadays, especially women, are more aware of the law and so reporting of cases increases.
