​Tusia:  Judy Mata’utia
 
Se tasi o faafitauli tele ma le ogaoga o lo’o faaauauina pea ona feagai ma I tatou I nei aso, o le tumau pea o le leai o se aia ma faiga tutusa o itupa I totonu o li’o o faiga malo I le lalolagi atoa, o le Pasefika, faapea foi tatou i Samoa nei.  O nei aso a tatou talanoa i faiga tutusa o itupa, e tatau ona iai se tauaofaiga e aofia ai tagata uma, tamaitai, alii, faapea ma faafafine ma vaega uma. O nisi o mataupu tau I itupa e a’afia ai le tele of atumotu o le Pasefika, e iai le tulaga maualalo o le auai o tamaitai I faiga malo, faaletonu tulaga o mea e faigaluega ai, sauaina o tamaitai, faateleina le lamatia I faamai pepesi e mafua mai I feusuaiga, ma faiga masani o le faailoga tagata.  Atonu e tele mafuaaga ma lu’itau e mafua ai le le lava o sui tamaitai e auai I mea fai ma vaega eseese, peitai o faiga le tutusa I le va o itupa, o se mafuaaga lea ua tele ona vaaia. 
 
O faiga le tutusa I itupa o se mataupu e faatatau I aia tatau a tagata ma o se taofiga po o le faatapula’aina lea o taumafaiga mo faiga tutusa ma le faatumauina.  O le faatalanoaina o nei mataupu, o lea mafai ona maua ai ni taunuuga lelei mo le faatupulaia o le tamaoaiga aemaise foi o le atinae lautele mo le tatou lotoifale.  E ui ina tele taumafaiga o faiga malo eseese, ma atumotu o le Pasefika ina ia iai faiga tutusa I totonu o atunuu eseese, peitai o lo’o vaaia pea le faaletonu I le aga’iga’i I luma.  O sauaga e faasaga I tamaitai I le Pasefika, aemaise foi o Amerika Samoa, o lo’o I se tulaga matautia.  O le Pasefika o le vaega o le lalolagi e pito sili lea ona pau numera, o le nofoia e tamaitai o nofoa I totonu o faiga malo o latou lava atunuu, ma atonu e iai le eseesega tele I mataupu e faasino I itupa, I le va o atumotu eseese o le Pasefika, ma e fuafua I le tulaga o le atinae o le tamaoaiga, o faiga masani ua masani ai le lautele, tulaga o le faitau aofa’i o tagata e nonofo I lea atunuu, ma le siosiomaga I totonu o le faiga malo, le au fai tulafono ma le au faitofi.
 
I le 2001 na maua mai le Matagaluega a Tina ma Tamaitai a Samoa faapea I totonu o laufanua o Samoa e iai le talitonuga lautele o lo o iai faiga tutusa I itupa, ma o tamaitai e tutusa ma o latou paaga po o alii foi.  O lo o faapea mai foi tagata Samoa, o tamaitai latou te umia ma saofafai mai I tulaga maualuluga I totonu o latou aiga, nuu ma afioaga, faapea ma le atunuu.  I le aganuu Samoa foi, o le tamaitai o le ioi mata o lona tuagane, ma o le tuagane na te tausi I lona tuafafine.  O le fesili tele la, po’o faapea lava na faia nei faiga i totonu o tatou aiga, nuu ma afioaga aemaise o le atunuu lautele?  O nei vaitau ua seasea lava o tatou toe vaaia ni tulaga faapea.  Ina ia mafai ona faia le tatou galuega o le faatamaia o sauaga, e tatau ona tatou malamalama I le tatou faaSamoa, aemaise o le avea ma se vaega o le talanoaga, pe faaaogaina o se punaoa e faatupulaia ai le faapalepale o tatou tagata I faiga e tineia ai sauaga mai o tatou aiga.
 
              O lo’o fesiligia pea e le toatele le mafuaaga e faasa ai e nisi o nuu ma afioaga ona faamatai tamaitai. 
O nisi o suesuega na maua ai faapea I nisi o taupulega a nuu, e vaaia pea le leai o se auai o tamaitai, ma o se faiga masani lea I totonu o le tele o nuu I Samoa faapea foi Amerika Samoa.  O nisi mafuaaga o le faasa o matai tamaitai I totonu o nuu ona o tapu a nuu po’o aiga pe mai tuaa ma o lo’o tausisi ai pea aiga.  O se isi itu o tiute ma matafaioi a itupa ua uma ona mavaevae e pei o alii e avea ma matai ao tamaitai e avea ma fautua.  O le va tapuia i le va o tamaitai ma alii atonu o se isi lea pogai ona e faafaigata ona nofoia faatasi I totonu o saofaiga a le nuu aemaise pea talanoaina mataupu e faatatau I mataupu ogaoga e iai sauaga ma nisi tulaga.  Atonu e faia foi tausuaga a alii I taimi o fonotaga a le nuu ma e mafai ona le fiafia I ai tamaitai, o nisi o tamaitai latou te ave le faamuamua I o latou tuagane, atalii, tane, po’o aiga foi ina ia latou pale I suafa matai ona o le talitonuga o tofiga mo alii.  O nisi mafuaaga e aofia ai le nofotane o tamaitai I nuu ma aiga o latou tane aemaise pe a leai se malamalamaga I tu ma agaifanua o lena nuu, ina ia mafai ona tauave ai tiute masani o le faamatai.  O faaalia mai ii, o le tele I le faaaloalo I le aganuu, e mafai ona taofia ai tamaitai mai le auai I nofoaiga a nuu aemaise o le iai I le faia o faaiuga. 
 

Written by Jennifer Tofaeono, Executive Director Alliance
      July 2022, I attended the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS) Women’s Collective.  My interest in the Summit was to engage with participants and listen. It was impressive to hear the stories of AAPI women who were Legislatures, Judges, Community Influencers, and who held powerful spaces.  As I sat, I was encouraged hearing their stories.  These were women who were moved by their families and communities.  They recognized there were little to no faces that looked like them, me, or you.  The women speakers referenced their parents arriving to US.  They could not speak English or had little to no education.  They stood in lines for food, most living stuffed in one house with many family members or living in  government homes. 
 Their stories reminded me of the stories of many Samoan Families. In the 1990 United States Census, over 55,000 Americans reported to be Samoan descent, with most residing in California, and Hawaii.  Samoan immigrants were forced to pursue low-paying jobs as untrained laborers and had faced (and still do) considerable prejudice.  They were described as being violent.  Samoan Youths who were in gang activity led many to believe Samoan Americans were hoodlums.  As a Samoan woman who grew up in the 80’s, I had always wondered when would we begin to see equality, and yet it is still the question held by many Samoan youth today. 
      It is difficult to find role models who look like me, a Pacific Islander, unless your a football player, or a man.  I understand what it means to be part of a smaller piece of the world.  But reminding myself, just because we’re smaller, that doesn’t mean we’re less important.  I sat and listened to other women at the Summit share their stories of homelessness, not knowing they were worthy of living the American dream.  Speaker Bethany Kahn said, “I hadn’t planned on going to college, but my teacher said I was smart, so I enrolled.”  She is the Director of Communications & Digital Strategy at the Culinary Union, one of the largest and most powerful unions in Las Vegas, NV.  The women’s stories were powerful and filled with hope.  They each had to fight to change the perception society had, but what was more authentic was their desire to share their stories to allow others to move forward as well. 
      Women’s Equality Day is celebrated every year on August 26. On this day we commemorate the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, granting the right to vote to women, first introduced in 1878, and ratified August 26, 1920.  The Amendment provided “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”   Throughout time women have existed as political activist and the passage of the 19th Amendment negated the silence placed on women to gain equal rights.  As you move through the month of August take the time to learn what was done before you to ensure you would have Equality today.  Participate, and learn more about Equality Day.  Support movements to promote gender equality and help women’s rights.  Simple changes like policy in the workspace can be a big way to support Equality Day. This work never ends—learn more, do more.

Photo:  Speaker: Nevada Assemblywoman Selena Torres, Hawaiian, Brazillian  https://nhcsl.org/members/biography/asw_selena_torres/ 

Picture #2:  Moderator:  Danielle Moon, APAICS,  Hon Sheng Taho, Oakland Council President Pro Tempore, Hon Nima Kulkarni, Kentucky State Representative, 40th Legislative District, , & Hon Jan-le Low, Former President’s Advisory Commissioner, White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.  

Picture #3:  Madalene Mielke, President CEO of Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS).

by Karallyn Fitisone
​
Defining Resilience. Cultivating resilience is a phenomenon that all living organisms, especially humans, have
been familiar with since the beginning of time. Resilience is associated with adjectives like toughness,
pliability, and elasticity. By definition, resilience is a word often given to individual or group objects and or
people that are able to withstand and recover from the often harsh realities of the world. Simply put, resilience
is so vital to our existence and our abilities to persevere. Challenges and adversity are inevitable in life, yet
humans have been able to navigate and adapt through these challenges via resiliency. It is no wonder why one
of the most popular topics in positive psychology and the social science discourse is surrounding resilience. 
Resilient Women & Women's Suffrage
For some populations, there have been more efforts to cultivate resilience as a response to a lack of basic human
rights. Women in particular have and still in some instances are being relegated to the backseat of contemporary
society and its many institutions. Women’s suffrage from a historical standpoint is a fairly recent development
for the modern world. As of 2022, voting for women is legal in all countries and territories, but one. However,
this isn’t to say that all countries and territories are actively encouraging or supporting women’s rights to vote.
Nonetheless, the right to vote for women in many countries, cultures, contexts, and cases has seen decades-long
fights for this civil liberty. Many scholars can agree that New Zealand was the first nation to grant women’s
suffrage in 1893, and the most recent country to allow women’s suffrage is Saudi Arabia in 2015. In between
these two dates lies 122 years of marches, protests, movements, unions, and overall, a complex combination of
ideas and events that ultimately led to women getting the right to vote. The overarching theme however, is
resilience. It is because of the resilience of women and allies of the movements, that we are able to explore and
continue exploring the narrative that women, like men, deserve all the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
These achievements, a culmination of resiliency, hard work, passion, and compassion, represented potential for
future progress, social development, and legislation. Subsequently allowing society to examine more
fundamental questions about true universal suffrage and gender equity, that had not been investigated before. 
The Takeaway
As aforementioned, resiliency is the capability to forego difficulties and recover from them. Globally, women
are continuously affected with disparities in access to education, employment, reproductive health & rights,
maternal health, gender-based violence, livelihoods, and underrepresentation of which their male counterparts
are not subject to, experiencing to the degree that women are, or sometimes even aware of. As women have
gained suffrage, there have been subsequent positive outcomes for countries where they have seen economic
growth, increase in welfare, and less interstate conflicts. If women collectively decided to give in or give up
from the hardships, losses, stressors, or pressures of life, we would undoubtedly fail as a society. Even with the
myriad of challenges that women face, they continue to exceed the limitations, expectations, and ideals of
sexism or misogyny, through resilience. May we continue to honor and celebrate the victories of women,
encourage their success, and remain aware of the inequalities and dangers that they may face. In a world where
resiliency plays an integral role in our success and perseverance, let us build resilience by attaining meaningful
interpersonal relationships, practicing gratitude, learning from experiences, being proactive about problems,
remaining hopeful and optimistic about the future, and taking care of ourselves.

Written by:  Luana Scanlan, PRIME Consultant
     Sexual assault is the ‘illegal sexual contact that involves force upon a person without their consent or is inflicted upon a person who is incapable of giving consent or that places the assailant (abuser) in a position of trust or authority’ (Merriam-Webster, 2022).       In the U.S., 81% of women and 43% of men reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment and/or assault in their lifetimes (Keal, H. 2018).  Half of female victims were raped by an intimate partner; 41% by an acquaintance (Black, MC et al., 2011).  One of every three women were raped, or assaulted, between the ages of 11 and 17.  The incidence of violence against women in Pacific island countries is twice the global average, with up to 68% having reported experiencing physical or sexual violence by a partner or other in their lifetimes
     Sexual assault is too common in our society. Here in American Samoa, statistics on sexual assault and abuse are not reported publicly.  Our only measures are reports of incidents in the local news, and the Territorial Sex Offenders Registry.
The crime of sexual assault or sexual abuse is covered in five brief pages in the American Samoa Code under Title 46, ‘Criminal Justice’, Chapter 36. Visit American Samoa Alliance Against Domestic & Sexual Abuse to view a copy of the Code.
The Code defines eight ‘sexual offenses’ punishable in the Territorial court of law:

1. Child molesting is a class A felony and the only offense with a mandatory minimum prison sentence (10 years).
2. Rape is a class B felony.
3. Sodomy is a class B felony.
4. Sexual assault is a class C felony
5. Deviate sexual assault is a class C felony.
6. Sexual abuse in the first degree is a class D felony.
7. Indecent exposure is a class A misdemeanor.
8. Sexual abuse in the second degree is a class B misdemeanor.

All felony-level crimes are increased one level if the abuser inflicts ‘serious physical harm on any person or displays a deadly weapon in a threatening manner.’  One would assume that the acts of child molesting, rape, sodomy, sexual assault, and sexual abuse inflict, in and of themselves, ‘serious physical harm.’