Resilience Workshops. Build Confidence. Speak Up

Apr 8, 2021 | Initiatives and Projects | 0

Interested in our upcoming retreat?

We are holding an overnight camp that is full of fun! As part of our ‘Ownem Spes Blo Yu’ program, we provide girls with tools & strategies to navigate their adolescent world through a variety of creative outlets.

It’s about learning who you are, embracing what makes you unique & creating a community through connection with your sistas!

The 4 award recipients from our Not ‘Just’ A Girl spoken word competition are all coming along!

If you are interested in securing a spot, or would like to contribute towards securing a spot for girls who would like to attend, send us a message or email [email protected]

Limited places available!

SOURCE: GATE MINDS

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NEWS

VNPF GM’s PI today May 19, 2022
The General Manager (GM) of the Vanuatu National Provident Fund (VNPF), Parmod Achary, will be appearing before the Magistrate Court for his Preliminary Inquiry (PI) at 10am today. The Magistrate Court office said Mr. Achary is facing four charges indecency without consent. Three individuals have submitted their complaints against him. The office of the Magistrate Court said one of the three complainants had registered two complaints against the VNPF GM. The office attributed the delay in Mr. Achary’s appearing for his PI to the COVID-19 community outbreak in Port Vila. The complaints accusing Mr. Achary of indecency without consent dated back to 2020 and 2021. SOURCE: VANUATU DAILY POST

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Report unlawful sexual intercourse to police: VPF May 19, 2022
The Vanuatu Police Force (VPF) is calling on the public to report unlawful sexual intercourse offences to the police. This way, offenders can be prosecuted through the justice system, instead of settling offences in the customary way. In 2020, a suspect who is a landlord, committed sexual violence against an 8-year-old girl in Port Vila. The Family Protection Unit (FPU) last week received a report about a custom ceremony that was performed following the crime. The suspect offered the little girl money to show her pornographic pictures and videos. Family members found out about it this year when they questioned the girl about the money she had been spending on sweets. The suspect paid a fine when performing the custom ceremony. VPF said in a statement that such sexual acts are unlawful and offenders can be punished up to lifetime imprisonment. In this case, the suspect has paid a fine, but what about the victim who will live with the impact of the act, VPF has questioned. “The suspect paid a fine, but what about the future of the little girl? She will be traumatized and will grow up in fear,” VPF stressed. The suspect was arrested last weekend. He was charged for committing an act of indecency with a young person and for unlawful sexual intercourse. In its statement, the VPF warned parents to protect their children, particularly girls from sexual abuses. “Sexual violence cases are very serious and have high penalties,” VPF stated. “These include rape, sexual assault, child sexual assault and incest and sexual harassment. Under the law, they can only be prosecuted in court. “Anyone can experience sexual violence, children, adolescents, the elderly and old and people with disability. People who commit sexual violence can be a family member, a trusted individual or a stranger.” According to the statement from VPF, the FPU has recorded 10 domestic violence cases and three sexual intercourse without consent cases, from March to April this year. All cases are now with the Prosecution. Suspects in sexual intercourse without consent cases are on remand, waiting to appear in court for their cases. For the domestic violence cases, the suspects have been given bail, waiting for court hearing. SOURCE: VANUATU DAILY POST

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Don’t Abolish Justice Ministry: President May 19, 2022
Head of State, Pastor Obed Moses Tallis, has called on the Loughman-led Government not to abolish the Ministry of Justice and Community Services. “In my observation during my 5-year term as the Head of State, the judiciary in Vanuatu under the leadership of the Chief Justice plays an important role in stability, growth and progress of the nation for its uniqueness and independency,” the President said. “To cherish the stages of the third pillar of the Constitution, I urge the government to carefully consider its decision to abolish the Ministry of Justice. It is important that the government maintain the Ministry of Justice. “Without the judiciary, there will no effective work from the government and there will be no prosecution. The work of the Vanuatu Police Force will have no basis and there will be a dictatorial system in place.” The President made the call in his remarks during the opening of the 2022 First Ordinary Session of Parliament on Thursday. In response, Prime Minister Bob Loughman said the government notes the significance of the Ministry of Justice. “The government’s policy to restructure the Ministry of Justice is not to reduce the importance of justice and the function of the judiciary,” PM Loughman said. “It is a simple matter of the executive realigning its priorities.” The PM reflected that in July 29, 2022, the government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with its key partners to construct Vanuatu’s new Hall of Justice Complex. In acknowledging the development partners, Loughman said the design of the Complex is in progress and he believes by the end of the 2022, the signing of the contract to construct the complex is something to look forward to. SOURCE: VANUATU DAILY POST

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Court briefs – 17 May 2022 May 19, 2022
Father kills family John Amos Pakoa had taken his family to the independence celebration in 2001. After returning home, Mr. Pakoa and his wife Helly went to drink kava and returned home just before morning. Soon after he stabbed his wife in the back, killing her. He then went to his daughter’s bed, slit her throat and stabbed her then proceeded to call his son into the house and cut his throat. Pakoa then fled to a garden in the Le Meridian area and cut off part of his penis. He also slashed his throat; however, he did not die. In Pakoa’s statement, the main reason why he decided to kill his entire family, is that he did not want their children to remain alive and suffer problems because of their mother. Pakoa was guilty on 3 counts of unintentional homicide. He was sentenced to 15 years for count 1 and 2, 7 years each served cumulatively and 4 years for count 3 which he was to serve concurrently. Man has intercourse with stepdaughter Stanley Marango was charged for having sexual intercourse with his stepdaughter. The victim was born to a relationship between her mother, now married to Marango, and another person from Tanna. She was 18 years old when the act of sexual intercourse took place. She is now pregnant, while the defendant had three children in his present marriage. Marango was found guilty and sentenced to 11 months’ imprisonment. Man guilty of rape Anderson Tor pleaded guilty to one offence of rape, although there were three acts of sexual intercourse in a short time. Tor had recounted that he had taken the 16-year-old girl to a remote place with her aunt. While there, her aunt left to have sex with another man, Tor then raped the girl despite her telling him to stop. He was violent and had sex with her 3 times. The judge credited Tor for his early guilty plea, and the fact that he admitted to his wrong in front of a church congregation, as part of the mitigating factors in his favor. The normal sentence for such charges is 5 years. The judge set the starting point of the sentence at 3 years. In the end, Tor was sentenced to 2 years’ imprisonment. Guilty of unlawful sexual intercourse Rene Nimisa is the defendant (set exactly as what is written on PacLII) and plead guilty for unlawful sexual intercourse c/s 97 (2) Penal Code. The sentence is six months’ imprisonment, and it was suspended for three years. Man guilty of intentional assault causing death Richard Ierogen was found guilty and convicted of the offence of Intentional Assault on the body of Heather Ierogen, causing damage that killed her. Richard had told the court he did not assault Heather; the court rejected this statement based on evidence it was presented. After considering the factors of this case thoroughly, the judge sentenced Richard Ierogen to 3 years and 5 months’ imprisonment. Disclaimer: All court documents have been sourced and summarized from PACLII website. All this information is public information and randomly chosen from the Supreme Court of Vanuatu 2022, to feature in the Daily Post every Tuesday. SOURCE: VANUATU DAILY POST

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Man found guilty of sex offences jailed for 10 years May 19, 2022
A 34-year-old man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, after being found guilty of several sexual offences and threatening language against a 22-year-old female. Willie Namuli threaten to hit Fricka Bule on the head with a rock and throw her body down the rocky slope at Fatumauri Bay in Port Vila if she did not have sexual intercourse with him. This happened after they both consumed alcohol at the Anchor Inn bar on August 23, 2020. After forcing her to undress and performing oral sex on him, he followed her down the slope as she was looking for a bus to get her away from there, without success. He followed her back to Anchor Inn and they later went home together on a bus with a group of their acquaintances. On the way, Bule told the driver to let her off at Tagabe Bridge, but Namuli overruled her and told the driver to continue on to Blacksands. At Blacksands, she tried to escape from Namuli but he ran after her and instructed her rudely to stop. He swore at her, pulled her hair and threaten to tear up her guts and slice her up to her mouth with a knife, if she attempted to run away again. He then took her to a deserted house where he forced her to have sexual intercourse with him again. Namuli stopped when someone called out. The maximum penalty for sexual intercourse without consent is life imprisonment, and 3 years imprisonment for threatening language. There was no mitigating aspect to the offending. Aggravating factors include the repeated nature of the sexual assaults, use of knife and a rock to reinforce threats, lack of protection used exposing Bule to unwanted pregnancy and/or sexually transmitted disease, additional indignities imposed on Bule, pre-meditation, the age difference between them as well as the difference in physical size and the quasi breach of trust-they were well known to each other and Namuli considered Bule’s father to be his uncle. Judge Gustaaf Andrée Wiltens imposed a sentence starting point of 10 years and 6 months imprisonment on a global concurrent basis, for all offences. The sentence was reduced by 6 months, due to his personal factors. Namuli has three children with his de facto partner. He is the sole breadwinner for his family, working as a driver for Port Vila Hardware and has no previous convictions. “He has already served 15 days in custody prior to being granted bail; and he was incarcerated following the publishing of the verdict on March 2, 2022,” Judge Wiltens stated in the verdict on April 26, 2022. “To preserve his parole rights, his sentence will accordingly commence as from February 2022.” Namuli was given 14 days to appeal the sentence. SOURCE: VANUATU DAILY POST

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