Written by:  Karallyn Fitisone
The Rural Grant Project seeks to investigate and understand the fa’afafine experiences of
violence. This can further be broken down into examining their help-seeking behaviors, types of
violence they’re experiencing, feelings towards service providers, etc. Data was collected on the
fa’afafine experience over the span of several months in 2022 and 2021. This was made possible
through collaboration and partnership between the Alliance and the Society of Fa’afafines in
American Samoa (SOFIAS). In late 2022 the second phase of the project began, in which service
providers would be recruited to participate in the study. These service providers were recruited
from various sectors including various private, non-profit, or government entities.
Experiences
Please note that this writing is based on personal understanding and experiences, which
means the writing will contain estimates, opinions, and assumptions that are my own, and to my
understanding. Over the course of 3 months, over 50+ service providers have been contacted,
over 50% of those service providers became aware of the project, over 20 have participated in
the survey and 16 have participated in the interview portion of the project. I was able to engage
and connect with many of our service providers about the project which in itself I view as a
success, because this project was made aware to a larger audience through discussions and
emails. I definitely am very appreciative of all the time that our service providers have invested
in the project. I see the hard work they do in their respective fields and the passion that they have
to better our community. I definitely do see that the service providers are willing to undertake
any training we put out in regard to our fa’afafine population and serving any of them who are
victims of violence. I can see that growth is taking place within our community, as we begin to
accept, adapt, accommodate, tolerate, and include newer ideas and perspectives into our lives. I
have been privileged to be a part of the process that seeks to enhance and increase the quality of
service provision to fa’afafine victims of violence. I look forward to the remainder of the project
and to what develops from our findings.
Challenges
I have experienced some challenges primarily in recruitment. I understand there are
factors that may have influenced participation in our surveys and interviews. Communication
was a challenge in that some of the contact information was outdated for some service providers
and or organizations. Other issues include a lack of response. This can be due to a variety of
reasons, but in general because of the delayed or lack of responses, this has led to cancellations
or to not followed through interviews with service providers. I also understand that our service
providers are busy and may not have the time to participate in the project. I also recognize that
the administration of the survey was during the time of year that consists of major holidays and
or break for some of our service providers. These factors definitely have made it harder to

achieve our intended goal number of participants, but nonetheless we have achieved a larger
goal, which was to spread awareness of the project. Even with these challenges, we are confident
in the information we have gathered and the positive responses and feedback from our
community and service providers about the work of our rural team.
Overall
I am so grateful to have been given this opportunity to work on this project with such a great
team! I am so glad with all the networking I have been able to accomplish and to learn about the
work that our service providers are doing for victims of violence. It is refreshing to know that
they are willing to participate in training if it becomes available to them. I also think this project
has allowed me to reflect on the ways that I can be more of an advocate, or an ally for fa’afafine.
I can also reflect on the ways I can nurture diversity and promote inclusivity. I believe this
project is an excellent start for examining and investigating our marginalized communities in
American Samoa, as it pertains to violence.
Coming Soon: Our team is so excited to be creating a space on the Alliance website for the Rural
Project! On this separate page, we plan to have our PSAs posted, links to our podcast episodes,
articles/newsletter additions, gallery, and more! We hope that this page helps to serve as a place
where community members, alliance followers, and those interested, can learn more about the
Rural grant project, the work that we do, and the things we are passionate about!
Reminder: Please follow along to any of the alliance social media pages and or check in to the
alliance website and newsletter for updates and rural project progress! Check out our podcast on
spotify “Falalalaga Podcast” updated twice monthly. Feel free to contact the Alliance with any
questions, suggestions, or concerns you might have in regard to this project.
Photo: retrieved from Society of Fa'afafine in American Samoa (SOFIAS) facebookpage: ​https://www.facebook.com/168150006613160/photos/pb.100070244640816.-2207520000./4629225017172281/?type=3

Written by:  Karallyn Fitisone
Fa’afafine are Samoa’s third gender and a largely misunderstood community (Barrett J., 2019). Western constructs and social norms have made it difficult for indigenous identities to exist without comparison. Although Fa’afafine do not identify with these western ideas of gender and sexual orientation, the shared western terminology has allowed for outsiders to understand what it means to be a Fa’afafine. They consider themselves non-binary, and non-cisgender. They are often used interchangeably with transgender terminology, but they are not necessarily the same. Fa’afafine were assigned male at birth but over time adopted feminine qualities. They hold a combination of masculine and feminine qualities but ultimately remain gender fluid (Beyond Gender: Indigenous Perspectives, Fa’afafine and Fa’afatama, n.d.). It has been estimated that 1-5% of Samoans identify as fa’afafine (Tan, 2016) with much of the population still residing in the Samoan islands.
 
Context/History: The term fa’afafine translates into “manner of woman” - many other regions of Oceania and Polynesia have related words in their own languages for instance in the Tongan language/culture - an individual who was assigned male at birth but went on to adopt feminine qualities and identify with a third gender would be known as a fakaleiti or fakafefine (James, K.E., 1994) The history of fa’afafine shows evidence of chiefs, leadership, and innovation.
 
Current day: Fa’afafine are widely accepted in Samoan culture and an important part of contemporary society. Although some religious institutions and traditional leaders still have trouble fully accepting fa’afafine ways of life. Fa’afafine are known for their many roles in society some of which are to care for the elders, charitable efforts, and their determination to preserve culture and family values (Beyond Gender: Indigenous Perspectives, Fa’afafine and Fa’afatama, n.d.). The main organizations for fa’afafine in the Samoan islands are - Society of Fa’afafines In American Samoa (SOFIAS) or the - Samoan Fa’afafine Association in Independent Samoa.
 
Violence: Data for violence to gender non-conforming (or transgendered, non-binary, non-cisgender) individuals is scarce. Much of the existing literature also only highlights heterosexual couples as well as Eurocentric populations. Albeit the scarce research, the data shows that transgender individuals suffer greater occurences of IPV, experiences of threats or intimidation, harassment, and police violence (NCADV, 2018). As much of the diction surrounding fa’afafine and trans individuals is similar it might also be true that the prevalence of violence warrants the need to further investigate our own population of nonbinary/non-cisgender individuals.
 
Violence & Fa’afafine: Carney, 2015:
            After reviewing the literature, it is easy to see that not much has been explored about the prevalence of violence in the fa’afafine population. In Carney’s article he observed that violence of fa’afafine is tied to male privilege in that because Samoa has become a male-dominated culture- as a result of globalization, and the indoctrination of Christianity, women are then subjected to oppression and marginalization. Carney discusses how violence has served as a way to disrupt their access to and utilization of health services and maybe even certain health outcomes. Carney also highlights how there are currently no data on how fa’afafine experience interpersonal, sexual, or domestic violence but that their experiences are related to the same cultural values of male privilege that impact women. In the Alliance’s efforts to promote inclusivity and awareness of DV/SA, they have provided a safe place for fa’afafine to come to the table and be a part of the discussions. Another way is through the new Rural Grant Project.
 
Rural Grant Project:
            The goal of this project is to inform the general public of American Samoa on several concepts. The project seeks to raise awareness on the fa’afafine experiences of violence and to whom they are able to get help from. The project aims to collect data to inform the development of service provider training for issues specific to the fa’afafine population. Over a series of surveys, interviews, reports, media outreaches, educational efforts, it is the hope of the project to outline priorities and strategies for building infrastructure for advocacy training and sustainable partnerships for service users and providers. Training and outreach efforts will emphasize the creation of safe spaces and empathy. More services and collaboration for our fa’afafine and the community means more equality and hopefully less instances of violence amongst our people.
 
For More Information on the Fa’afafine Community:

• Books: Samoan Queer Lives (2018) by Dan Taulapapa McMullin and Yuki Kihara, Memoirs of a Samoan, Catholic, and Fa’afafine (2007) by Esther Vanhomrigh
• Websites: Natural History Museum - Beyond Gender: Indigenous Perspectives, Fa’afafine and Fa’afatama https://nhm.org/stories/beyond-gender-indigenous-perspectives-faafafine-and-faafatama ,Fa’afafine in American Samoa - https://assofias.webs.com/ , Society Of Fa’afafine in American Samoa - S.O.F.I.A.S. on FB
• BBC Article: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37227803  
• Peer Reviewed Journal Article: Carney, R. (2015) The Health Needs of the Fa’afafine in American Samoa and Transgender Research Methodology. Note* Highlights Violence

For more information on the Rural Grant Project: feel free to contact the Alliance, contact
information can be found here - http://www.asalliance.co/contact.html
Sources
Carney, R. (2015). The Health Needs of the Fa’afafine in American Samoa and Transgender
Research Methodology. The Columbia University Journal of Global Health, 5(1), 38–43. https://doi.org/10.7916/thejgh.v5i1.5299
Barrett, J. (2019). Samoa's 'third gender' delicately balances sex and religion. Reuters. Retrieved
from, https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-pacific-samoa-gender-idUKKCN1UQ020
Beyond gender: Indigenous perspectives, Fa'afafine and Fa'afatama. Natural History Museum.
(n.d.). Retrieved from https://nhm.org/stories/beyond-gender-indigenous-perspectives-faafafine-and-faafatama
James, Kerry E. (1994). "Effeminate Males and Changes in the Construction of Gender in
Tonga". Pacific Studies. 17 (2): 39–69.
Tan, Yvette (2016). "Samoa's 'third gender' beauty pageant". BBC News.
Image from: https://twitter.com/vlad_sokhin/status/656439861235179520?lang=de; internet. ​