Seeking Peace in Religious Teachings: Womenâ€TMs Responses to Domestic Violence in Rural Vanuatu

Pacific Island countries are said to have a substantially high rate of violence against women, and Vanuatu is no exception to this. The existing literature on violence against women in the context of Pacific Island countries has highlighted how patriarchal ideologies have contributed to the high rate of violence against women while confirming that the majority of women survivors of violence remain silent. The literature claims the importance of integrating cultural and religious factors that may influence women's responses to violence. Based on the case study of two villages on Malekula Island, we aim to capture women's experiences of violence and how women respond to it in a rural context, where formal support services are hardly available and women's lives are confined to household and village. Our interviews with thirty women show that most participants have experienced physical abuse by an intimate partner. Our findings show that none of the participants had ever consulted external formal service providers; instead they remained silent about abuse and sought guidance and peace in Christian teachings, which expect women to be good wives and obey the authority of their husbands. While women find peace in the teachings, together with customary practices, this reinforces traditional gender ideologies and patriarchal hierarchies and hinders women's empowerment. In this context, we suggest that multicomponent interventions-collaborations among formal support services, village chiefs, and church leaders-targeting men (with women and girls) may be effective to gradually mobilize community and change gender norms.