On 30 August 1992, three ni-Vanuatu women were on a plane back home to Port Vila, after attending a workshop in Suva with grassroots women from across the Pacific region. Three days later, the Vanuatu Women’s Centre (VWC) was born.
These three remarkable women were Merilyn Tahi, the Coordinator of VWC until February 2021, Elizabeth Mermer and Janet Saksak Boedovo. They returned from Fiji inspired by the First Pacific Regional Workshop on Women and Violence, organised by the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre (FWCC). By November, VWC held its “curtain raiser”: Vanuatu’s first 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence campaign.
VWC’s most recent publication, Thirty Years of the Vanuatu Women’s Centre: Her Story, documents the organisation’s journey through the memories and experiences of over 60 former and current staff and supporters. The book was edited by Merilyn Tahi and Juliet Hunt, and was recently launched at VWC’s 30th anniversary celebrations.
