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3/15/2020

Samoan Herstory Month, sharing women stories...

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Today, March 1 is the beginning of Women's History Month. It's an important movement for not only Samoan Women, but all women. It is a time to celebrate women and their contributions to history and society. We would like to honor American Samoa's first female United States Congresswoman Amua Amata Coleman Radewagen, who speaks out against Domestic Violence. She reminds us that "Domestic Violence Must Not Be Part of Our Way". (learn more below)

Men's violence and discrimination against women and girls are based on male domination. Unfortunately, as beautiful as our Samoan culture, power and control are held by men. The acts of violence against our women through domestic violence, sexual assault stem from oppression, a state of unjust treatment or control. Belief systems such as, "I am the head of the house", "I'm the man" or "I own her" is why men feel it's ok to hit women.
The purpose of National Women's History Month is to remind all of us the stories and the narrative of women, and how the important roles they play in culture and society.

Learn more: https://radewagen.house.gov/…/domestic-violence-must-not-be…

Follow us this month as we highlight inspiring moments in Samoan history of the struggle for women's rights. For more information contact us here at our Facebook page, or via email: asadsv@gmail.com

Women's HERstory month is dedicated to increasing the visibility of all women and women-identified people in American Samoa. This week we feature, Dr. Robin Faumuina, a local physician for the Veteran Affairs. She attended Fa'asao Marist High School, attended ASCC and received her Bachelors degree from idaho State University. She holds a Masters of Public Health Degree, and received her Doctor of Medicine Degree at the age of 28 from Ross University School of Medicine.
Dr. Faumuina is an active member in our community. She sits on the Board of many organizations, as well as continues to teach our local youth. In the first hosted TEDxPagoPago event in 2019 she shared her living E-A-S-Y Plan.
She is happily married to Stan Tui Vasai of Aua, and is a proud mother to two handsome sons, Aisali and Tuiofetoa and to a beautiful daughter, Soliaa’ana.
Thank you Dr. Faumuina for all that you do for our community.

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3/13/2020

Gender Equality Month

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March is recognized as Gender Equality Month. Over the past twenty-five (25) years there has been a movement across countries, industries, cultures and generations to recognize the world would be a better place if all women and girls were able to live freely and safely with dignity and access to equal opportunities that would help them live their best lives.
          In 1995, The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was a creative plan to empower women and is recognized as the document to begin Gender Equality Month. To this day it is one of the leading records that helps to advance the discussions of global agendas for women on peace and security. United Nation Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated, “Just as slavery and colonialism were a stain on previous centuries, women’s inequality should shame us all in the 21st. Because it is not only unacceptable; it is stupid.”

               The central issue is power and control, like gender inequality. National economies, political systems, to corporate world and beyond are male dominated power structures, that control everything. Patriarchal systems influence our men and boys, creating gender stereotypes, which can result in domestic violence and/or sexual assault. in discussions with women who have been battered, the Duluth Power and Control Window was developed. It is important to note, the tactics used in the wheel (i.e. economic abuse, using male privilege, using children, etc) are not deemed bad in all relationships but what changes when physical violence or threat of it is used in a relationship . In situations where your partner comes home and states, “I believe only I should be working, because you need to care for the children”, and you feel confident in our ability to converse as partners to resolve this issue—it would not be deemed power and control. A victim of violence would think, “What will happen if I say No”, or “I will be silenced if I voice my opinion,” or “I just need to agree to keep the peace”. but what changes when physical violence or threat of it is used in a relationship.
          When women are not provided equal access as men, the community response is similar to the tactics used of power and control. In American Samoa we live in a patriarchal, or male-controlled society. Many positions of power within our culture, employment, religious areas are held by men. Women do not hold that same power, but we can make simple changes in our community to shift the way that power is held. One way is to share the household chores, where all adults living in the same home take responsibility for the household chores and children’s care. We can vote for more women in House of Representatives, and scold chauvinist as well as racist attitudes. These are small steps that we can take to make a difference.
          When we encourage gender equality, we promote the wellness of our community, and families.

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2/13/2020

What I learned from Conflict Management

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Author: Eleanor Sogialofa
The Alliance would like to support the thoughts and visions of our youth. Eleanor Sogialofa supports our media team, and she provides a voice for the youth. Each month Eleanor will write a piece based on her perspective. As we look to develop change agents we are proud to support her writings.

What is 20/60/20?
Most work places have 20/60/20 staffing. 20 % of those staff members are visionaries. They carry the vision and mission of the work place and aid in pushing everything forward. 60% of those staff members are maintenance. They come in, get the work done; they’re on time, do the best that they can nothing more and nothing less. The last 20% of those members are resistors. This 20% are in the resistance phase, where they challenge why you are doing things a certain way and makes sure that everybody knows that they are not happy at the workplace.

Why is it important to know?
It is an important fact to know because you get a general idea of people you work with. As management and leadership it is how you set the tone around putting your efforts in challenging your employees to grow. The 60 and 20 percent is where your energy lies most because you mentor and coach them. That’s 80% of your staff that are there to show up and collect a paycheck. That is a conflict because their work is not genuine, they can cause conflict amongst other coworkers, and they can be careless to certain duties in the workplace.

Who does it affect?
It is great for both management and staff. This visual will help Management and leadership find ways to help that 80 % grow and see what can be done to help them (the staff). This will also help the staff in a way that will reveal to them as they self reflect if there is something that can be done. It gives the stat stuff under the 80% to see what makes them feel the way they do at work, why does work make them feel that way and what are some solutions that can help resolve this conflict.

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2/13/2020

Unraveling Oppression

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For the past few years the Alliance Team has invested in an exercise “My One Word” from a book by Mike Ashcroft & Rachel Olson. The two authors focus on the power and beauty in words, and how they help to create movement. Words help us to focus and expand our horizons, and place in our minds a world of possibilities. This year one of our staff chose the word “unravel”. The intersections of oppression, domestic violence and sexual assault requires a lot of unraveling. In our ASTA (Awareness, Sharing, Training, Action) bimonthly sessions we focused on “Unraveling Oppression”.

                The funding provided to the Alliance dictates our workplans to educate, promote awareness and build capacity for our member organizations, and partners regarding domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking. Discussions center on power and control. The Duluth Model of power and control provides the framework which includes tactics used by perpetrators to control victims. Feminists who work in areas of domestic violence and sexual assault believe the foundation of power and control stems from oppression. Oppression comes in many forms, with sexism being one of the most well-known form.

                Sexism is a system of power in which men have power in society over women. For physical and sexual violence men will use their power to isolate victims. They will control who they see, where she goes, and limits any outside connections. Abusers will use intimidation, making the victim feel afraid through looks, actions, smashing things, or destroying her property. Male privilege, where the victim is made to feel like a servant, and he acts like the “master of the castle”. Abusers will define men’s and women’s roles to keep the victim under control.

                The most prevalent and unnoticed cultural impact on the lives of women is the treatment they receive by society because they are female. In Samoa we have a patriarchal society, where men hold power in matai settings, church settings, and system of government. It is important that we understand how our cultural messages influence the lens in which we see the world. In our ASTA what we unraveled is our cultural foundations, the “Fa’aSamoa”, religion, and government, are tangled with the oppression, and violence.

                There is much to be unraveled as we look to define our stories (i.e. where a woman is unable to take care of herself and requires a man to be sole provider, and authority in the home. In the coming months we will share our discussions on gender roles, and its intersections with violence. We invite you to learn from our sharing.

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2/13/2020

Creating a Community Coordinated Response (CCR) and Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) in American Samoa

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A Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) and Community Coordinated Response (CCR) is made up of multidisciplinary team of professionals who partner to provide interagency coordinated response for sexual assault and domestic violence to meet the needs of victims, survivors and promote perpetrator accountability.

In July 2020, the Alliance held its first SART and CCR meeting with partners from, Tafuna Health Clinic, Department of Human Social Services, Attorney General’s Office, American Samoa Coalition against Domestic & Sexual Violence, and community advocates (i.e. SOPHIAS, Mana Health, etc). During our first meeting the group created a calendar for regular meetings to be held the third Thursday of every month. Since then we have established a leadership structure, where the Alliance was designated to facilitate the meetings with support from partners. The team identified strengths and gaps in local system as we discussed and research local data.

In October of 2019 the group developed the following mission statement, “Working together to educate and promote awareness regarding domestic and sexual assault to improve support for victims in American Samoa.” In January 2020 the group brainstormed on the work, about the victims, and the opportunities we would like to see happen to strengthen local response to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Many in the group stated, “I want to make a difference and see violence end.” In order to do this, it is crucial the to build capacity, and everyone plays a role.
Over the next few months the SART CCR team will begin to prioritize areas for action by developing specific, measurable, attainable reachable, goals in a timely manner. Please follow us as we continue to report SART/CCR meeting updates.

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Tusitala

Samoan Herstory Month, sharing women stories...

Gender Equality Month

What I learned from Conflict Management

Unraveling Oppression

Creating a Community Coordinated Response (CCR) and Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) in American Samoa

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