UPR Sexual Rights Database

"National Report:
Para 53) The National Policy for Women 2010-2015 was endorsed by Cabinet in 2010 and is currently under review with independent technical support from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community. One of the key policy outcomes includes ‘increasing women’s participation in public life and decision making'. The policy identified as one of its main activities the support for increasing women's participation in political and public life. The review upon finalization will set the priorities for the development of the new Gender and Women’s policy for the next 5 years as well as a program for implementation.

Para 54) Resources mobilised through the Samoa Women Shaping Development Program funded by the Government of Australia and UNDP/UN Women as part of Government’s strategy to increase the civic participation of women. Some of the milestones achieved to date include:
(d) Good Governance Programs spearheaded by the MWCSD where village by-laws are developed based on good governance principles. Women and young people’s participation in developing their village by laws alongside the village council is evidence of practicing good governance principles.

Para 86) Following the first review a significant constitutional amendment was made in 2013 where a 10% quota was introduced to reserve five (5) seats for women in parliament. This is another step towards achieving gender equality for women in the political arena as well as towards compliance with CEDAW. This constitutional guarantee will be implemented in March 2016 when Samoa enters elections.

Para 87) The Public Service Commission (PSC) in its Public Service Act 2004 and Policies (Working Conditions and Entitlements Manual - WCE) advocates for equal employment opportunity for both females and males. Under the current WCE manual, women are entitled to 2 months maternity leave with pay and they can take up to 26 weeks without pay.

Para 88) Recently, PSC has reviewed its policy to be in-line with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Convention Eliminating Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to increase the maternity leave entitlement to 3 months with pay and 3 and a half months without pay. The revised maternity leave policy also recognizes for the first time, stillborn babies, miscarriages and legal adoption of newborn babies and those up to 12 months. Female employees will be entitled to 4 weeks with pay and up to 26 weeks without pay. Male employees in the public service are entitled to 5 days Paternity Leave.

Para 93) The Labour and Employment Relations Act 2013 (LERA) protects and promotes women's rights in employment, equal remuneration, maternity leave (public and private sector although the period of leave varies) and protection from workplace harassment, there is a need to regulate the private sector to ensure they comply with the universal standards.

UN Compilation:
Para 6) The country team indicated that, to address the low representation of women in Parliament, a constitutional amendment introducing a 10 per cent quota for women representatives in the national Legislative Assembly had been passed by Parliament in 2013.

Para 17) The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women was concerned that the Convention had still not been fully domesticated as part of national law, and that Samoa had yet to adopt and incorporate into the Constitution or other relevant legislation a definition of discrimination against women, including direct and indirect discrimination, in line with article 1 of the Convention.

Para 20) The country team stated that gender equality was undermined by women's poor access to employment, property, financial credit and bank loans. In 2012, Samoa and six other Pacific region countries had received low global rankings on the women’s economic opportunity index, which looked at women’s access to property and finance.

Para 21) ... noting that Samoa was reviewing the Lands and Titles Act to amend existing discriminatory provisions, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women was concerned at the prevalence of discriminatory customs and traditional practices that prevented rural women from inheriting or acquiring ownership of land and other property.

Para 36) The country team indicated that Samoa had taken important steps to bring its labour laws into line with international standards, including standards promoted by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the core ILO Conventions. Law reform, in particular the enactment of the Labour and Employment Relations Act 2013, which had repealed the Labour and Employment Act 1972, included maternity and paternity leave entitlements and other fundamental employment rights like equal pay, prohibitions on forced labour and employment discrimination (based on gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation), and the right to collective bargaining and freedom of association.

Para 52) UNESCO stated that steps had been taken to promote special education for persons with disabilities, with special attention paid to girls and women with disabilities (strategic policies and plan for 2006-2015).

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 23) JS3 noted an increase in the recognition of women's rights, especially regarding senior roles and positions of leadership within Samoa’s economy. Despite this increase, Samoan women continue to be marginalised within the Government, church communities and village councils where there are several impediments to overcome before women can truly benefit from equal enjoyment of rights."

National Report:
Para 115) ... The contraceptive prevalence rate is under 25% while the 2009 Demographic Health survey indicated that there are 44% of women who have an unmet need for family planning. This indicates women (married or in a consensual union) who are fecund and sexually active but do not use any method of contraception yet want to avoid or delay pregnancy. The high teenage fertility rates indicate there is likely high unmet need for family planning.

Para 116) Improvements have seen with the availability of Information Packages to all pregnant mothers during their first antenatal clinic visits. These include counselling on STI symptoms, information on contraceptives for family planning, sexual relationships with partners, and protective contraceptive for unborn babies and mothers. HIV and AIDS screening is free of charge at the National Health Services.

UN Compilation:
Para 42) The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women welcomed the adoption of the national HIV/AIDS policy for 2011-2016.

National Report:
Para 67) In the traditional context women are the ‘malu o aiga’ (protector of families) the ‘auli male pae” (facilitator of peace and harmony – problem solver) and the ‘ua faalanu ma’ave’ave (the rain that cleanses away the salty spray from the foliage – dilutes tensions). Women lead at every level of the social institutions within a family, village and community and are instrumental in bringing about change therein. Therefore the mutual understanding and partnerships between the State and our Village-Based systems of governance, is fundamental to the delivery of Government initiatives to strengthen gender responsive interventions to: eradicate violence from our homes, remove discrimination and stereotypical behaviour …

UN Compilation:
Para 58) The Working Group noted that one of the most important steps in addressing the root causes of violence against women involved creating a change in mindsets regarding cultural perceptions about women and their place in society. Open dialogue on matters deemed taboo and alternative narratives on the meaning of the “Samoan way” needed to occur, which could not happen without the leadership of the Government and community and religious leaders, alongside women and men at all levels of society.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 75) ICAAD reported that many women continued to be treated unequally in aspects of private and public life. Discriminatory treatment occurred because of entrenched cultural, religious, and patriarchal traditions. Samoan men were regarded as the head of households, superior to their wives. Unequal gender roles in Samoa were widely enforced and domestic and sexual violence by men against women were a reflection of gender-based power and control.

National Report:
Para 47) During the 2011 UPR the Family Safety Act 2013 was still a Bill, however, since then it has been passed and is now enforced. The Family Safety Act 2013 provides for the protection of women and children from domestic violence.

Para 48) A Specialist Family Violence Court has been set up to deal with family violence issues and child protection. A related development has been the establishment of the Alcohol and Drugs Court in 2015 which looks at a system by which the court provides rehabilitation services for offenders. Statistics indicate that gender based violence is associated with alcohol consumption.

Para 50) The recent work by the National Council of Women on working with women's committees and village women representatives is also complementing the ongoing efforts at national level to increase village and individual responsibility towards ending gender based violence.

Para 51) The Samoa Law Reform Commission is leading the CEDAW legislative Compliance Review with public consultations recently completed under the oversight of the MWCSD. The Samoa Victim Support Group have been instrumental in raising awareness programs and assisting women and children in getting court orders against men who perpetuate domestic violence against women. The enactment of the Family Safety Act and the Family Court Act are contributing to this fight against discrimination and the protection of the rights of women

UN Compilation:
Para 8) The country team also noted that in 2014 Samoa had established a Family Court through the Family Court Act 2014. The Family Court was a division of the District Court, and its purpose was to promote alternative forms of dispute resolution and conciliation. The Family Safety Act 2013 provided for an extensive definition of domestic violence. Important elements of the Act were the ability of a child to apply for a protection order without the consent of a parent or legal guardian, the duties of the police and the 'no drop policy', under which a report of domestic violence that involved any form of physical or sexual abuse must be pursued with intent to prosecute. The Family Court, which since its establishment had tried over 800 cases, was the first dedicated family court in the Pacific region outside of Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. The Family Court dealt with criminal cases related to family violence, and sought to hold defendants accountable for their actions and to compel them to address their violence in an appropriate way.

Para 14) The country team stated that, in order to improve the tracking of cases and identify obstacles in accessing appropriate legal outcomes, Samoa had implemented a monitoring and evaluation system for the Family Violence Court and Family Court, with support from the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women). The Court was in need of support mechanisms to provide counseling and guidance to families.

Para 23) A number of institutional measures had been adopted to address barriers and difficulties faced by victims with regard to accessing the formal justice system. Those measures included mandatory arrest and prosecution, as well as pro-arrest and pro-prosecution policies.

Stakeholder Summary
Para 11) JS4 commended the enactment of the Crimes Act, which increased the maximum penalties for most sexual offences and criminalized sexual offences, which include rape and unlawful sexual connection.

Para 30) NHRI believed that violence within the home must be addressed with all genders and ages. The widely held belief that family problems, such as domestic violence, should be settled within the family helps foster a 'culture of silence' within villages. Samoa has taken measures to address this issue with the passage of the Family Safety Act (2013), but there is limited public knowledge of this law, and how to engage in the legal proceedings it entails.

Para 31) JS3 commended the Government for passing the Family Safety Act (2013) and its current implementation though there is a need to increase awareness around its provisions especially on protection orders and on a multi-sectoral approach to address domestic violence. JS3 noted that UPR Working Group recommendation 73.32 (A/HRC/18/14) - criminalisation of rape within marriage - has yet to be implemented and urgently recommended that the Government fulfils this recommendation, and that adequately and sufficiently resource the implementation of the Family Safety Act 2013.

National Report:
Para 21) A legislative compliance review of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) was conducted in 2012 and a comprehensive Legislative Compliance Review of the laws of Samoa was completed in April 2015. There is an intention to reform laws to domesticate CRPD. The legislative compliance review is near complete and trainings have been conducted and are still ongoing in relation to CRPD.

Para 125) Samoa is considering ratifying CRPD. The Attorney General's Office has provided advice for Samoa to ratify following a legislative compliance review of CRPD. Samoa is working towards finalising the legislative compliance review so that Government is able to establish legal frameworks that will support full implementation of the Convention. Following this, the Convention will be ratified. Lack of technical expertise in this area is a problem although other Ministries and NGOs provided technical support towards completing the compliance. Samoa is looking at legal options towards protecting the rights of persons with disabilities whether in the form of a model law or piecemeal amendments.

Para 126) Since signing the CRPD, Samoa is currently undertaking a cost benefit analysis of CRPD and a legislative compliance review of CRPD. MWCSD is the focal point for CRPD. The challenge for Samoa is ensuring the accessibility in all public places, infrastructure (disability friendly facilities at the correctional facilities) and representation in public forums, steering committees, delegations to overseas meetings.

UN Compilation:
Para 3) The country team noted that Samoa had signed the CRPD in September 2014, and that the Government was in the process of moving towards ratification ...

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 6) Goshen Trust noted that while the Government has signed the CRPD, it has not yet ratified it ...