[1] Samoa gained independence from New Zealand in 1962[2] and has a Westminster model of Parliamentary democracy which incorporates aspects of traditional practices.
[2] While the Constitution of the Independent State of Samoa provides for the protection of certain fundamental human rights, there continue to be several major issues.
[2] The Constitution of the Independent State of Samoa 1960 came into force in 1962[11] and provides for the protection of fundamental human rights such as: While freedom from discrimination is provided for in regards to descent, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, social origin, place of birth and family status there is no protection from discrimination on the basis of disability or sexual orientation.
Through consensus, a single person is nominated as the chief (Maitai) of each village and only those with a chieftain title may then stand for election of the 47 Samoan seats.
[17] Therefore, political participation has been a very slow process because women are constantly confronted with challenges and barriers created by traditions, social perceptions, lack of education, measures, policy interventions and much more.
[18] To address gender inequality and encourage women's rights in politics, interventions, advocate groups, legislation and treaties have been established.
[27] In adherence to the 10 per cent quota codified in the Constitutional Amendment Act 2013, an additional woman will be added to Parliament due to the results of the elections.
[17][29][30][31] These include cultural and circumstantial barriers and lack of policy interventions which have been reported to bring hindrance to women obtaining support from the villages,[17] traditional leadership knowledge,[17] mentor assistance and political networking.
[32] In September 1991, Samoa ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to provide a human rights framework based on gender equality.
[37] According to UNICEF, members and leaders of judicial, legal, management and community in Samoa society must understand CEDAW to better implement and adhere to this convention.
In June 2013, in response to recommendations for policy interventions to address gender imbalance, the Samoan government ratified the Constitution Amendment Act (2013) (CAA).
[43] In response to the amendment, an interview with an MP before March 2016 elections stated that Samoan government are not actively executing their duty to address women's representation in politics despite their wish to do so.
[45] Maluseu Doris Tulifau established the non-profit organisation Brown Girl Woke to educate and counter against gender-based violence in Samoa.
[1] This increase has been attributed to governmental departments and non-governmental organisations (NGO's) in implementing programmes that have created greater awareness of the issue and encouraged reporting.
[2] Samoa has established measures to aid in combating this problem such as: While women enjoy many of the same rights as men in terms of employment opportunities, there remain areas of discrimination.
In 2007 it was reported that under national legislation women were restricted from undertaking night time work or manual labour that is deemed ‘unsuited to their physical capacity.’[48] This has been seen as inconsistent with article 11 of CEDAW which prohibits discrimination in employment.
The preamble to the 1960 Constitution enunciates Samoa as “an independent State based on Christian principles and Samoan custom and traditions”.
[50] These issues stem from the inconsistencies in theory, including a clear definition of what religious freedom is, the interpretation of Article 11 and practices in the local level in villages.
Prior to its independence in 1962, Samoa underwent a lot of struggle through civil wars and the arrival of colonial powers in the 18th century further exacerbated the problem of tribal rivalry.
[50][56] A Parliamentary Democracy with its legal system based on English Common law, Samoa was admitted to the United Nations in 1976.
But, in the cases that have made the media limelight, for example the village of Salamumu;[59] where a new denomination was banned from holding bible studies in the village as Methodist is the only denomination allowed; four men of an evangelic church were hog-tied; carried to the public road and left there until rescued by a church minister who pleaded for the men's lives.
[62] In the case of Sovita v Police,[57][63] the defendants were chiefs and untitled men (taulele’a) of Salamumu village; who argued that they were acting on order and command from the decision made by the fono.
Furthermore, in the case of Tariu Tuivaiti v Sila Faamalaga & Others, “the plaintiffs were banished from the village of Matautu Falelatai for failing to attend church”.
In the most publicized Salamumu 1998 incident opened discussions, and, the response to the citizens outcry and international denunciation sparked the Cabinet to set up a Commission of Inquiry in 2010 “…to inquire and report on the working of Article 11 of the Constitution of the Independent State of Samoa in relation to the right to freedom of religion”,.
Bryan Zoe, in her study on “Prosecution of Religious Minorities in Samoa: The Baha’i Struggle to Face a Common Problem”, provide a lot of insight into gaining understanding of the different beliefs and education in other religions other than Christianity.
Although there are limitations to the freedom, there has never been any issues or conflicts from the non-Christian community like the Baha’i Faith and Islam; that would pose any threats to Christians in Samoa.
Their principles in particular the Baha’i Faith, consist of universal peace, oneness, equality, the abolitions of religious, racial, political and patriotic prejudice;[63] to name a few.
What is more critical is the role of the Samoan National Council of Churches as they put a lot of pressure on the government to ban non-Christian beliefs.
The new amendment not only threatens the core principles of democracy, it allows violation of religious freedom of non-Christian communities,[70] a breach of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in which Samoa acceded in 2008.
Christians have the new amended Constitution to support and protect them (hence the National Council of Churches are calling to ban Islam from Samoa); whereas non-Christians will be challenged in courts.