Our Vision

Vanuatu Women’s Centre (VWC) envisions a future free of violence against women and children across Vanuatu. To achieve this, we implement long-term, integrated strategies that address both prevention and response, grounded in community realities and strengthened by collaboration.

Guiding Principles

• Listening to the real experiences of women and children living with violence in Vanuatu to develop and improve counselling, prevention, advocacy, and research strategies.
• Learning from Pacific feminist networks like the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and the Pacific Network Against Violence Against Women, while adapting international best practices to local realities.
• Designing home-grown strategies that are culturally relevant and rooted in gender justice.

An Integrated, Comprehensive Approach

VWC addresses the root causes of violence—particularly gender inequality—through human-rights based services and public education. Our program works to:

• Promote equality: All activities explicitly promote the rights of women and children.
• Provide ethical, rights-based crisis support: Counselling and legal services are delivered with confidentiality and care, guided by a feminist and ethical code.
• Integrate prevention and response: Our work combines awareness-building, service delivery, and research, each informing and strengthening the other.
• Reach nationally: Our services extend from urban centres to remote communities through VWC branches and Committees Against Violence Against Women (CAVAWs).
• Target multiple stakeholders: Chiefs, church leaders, health workers, police, and others are engaged in long-term partnerships to improve survivor support and shift public attitudes.
• Use tailored prevention: From one-time events and radio broadcasts to intensive multi-day workshops, we match strategies to the readiness of each audience.

Evidence-Based Programming

Our strategies are backed by data from our national prevalence study, which found that:

• 43% of women experiencing violence never told anyone.
• 57% never sought help.
• When they do, they turn first to chiefs (24%), church leaders (23%), health agencies (15%), and police (10%).

In response, VWC builds long-term relationships with these duty-bearers to improve how communities respond to survivors and prevent future violence.

Accountability and Male Advocacy

VWC’s Male Advocacy Program trains men to take responsibility for ending violence. Based on the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre model, it includes:

• Multiple week-long training stages with ongoing mentoring.
• Selection based on action, not just words.
• Strict accountability to the women’s movement and ongoing monitoring by VWC.

Impact

VWC’s comprehensive approach works. The national prevalence study showed that regions with long-term VWC presence had significantly lower rates of physical and sexual violence.

Example: In Malampa Province, where VWC had limited outreach, women were twice as likely to experience violence compared to areas with strong VWC and CAVAW engagement.