Countries in the Pacific have some of the highest rates of violence against women (VAW) in the world; it is estimated that two in every three Pacific women are impacted by gender-based violence, which is twice the global average (Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre[FWCC] and U.N. Women Fiji MCO, 2019). Rates of women experiencing intimate partner violence average 63% across Melanesian countries, 44% across Micronesia, and 43% across Polynesia (SPC, 2021).

Continued attention to the problem of VAW has led to a growing commitment to addressing domestic violence (DV) through various policy and legislative changes (Connelly & Cavanagh, 2007). in 1992, VAW was recognised in General Recommendation Number 19 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and thereby international law (Committee on CEDAW, 1992).