Break the silence, end the violence
‘It works’ for new Salsa owners
Football feast for fans
Tuesday story time
Tangee to perform at market today
Titikaveka hammers Red Divas

Women internalise the pressure, and find reasons to blame themselves for the cycle of abuse. 10061104

Pain and shame. 10061102

Domestic violence is an ongoing problem in the country, but many cases go unreported as women are not speaking up.

On account of their silence the statistics do not accurately reflect the true scale of the problem in the Cook Islands.

Still, the statistics available do reveal the prevalent nature of the issue – on average about 15 domestic violence complaints are lodged with police per month. Between January and March this year, police responded to nearly 50 domestic violence calls. Kairangi Samuela of Punanga Tauturu, the women’s counselling centre, said she handles up to 10 cases per month.

But because many women keep it quiet, police and Punanga Tauturu statistics do not cover the domestic violence episodes that occur behind the scenes.

A number of visiting judges have noted that domestic violence is a prevalent problem in the Cook Islands, and that there’s no mechanism by which to ensure that a woman pursues her claim in court.

This year, 16 ‘assault on a female’ cases have gone to court, and only six defendants have been convicted. (Of course, the charge of assault on a female can’t always be chalked up to domestic violence, but the two almost always correlate.)

Often, when a male defendant is convicted of assault on a female, he’s handed a suspended sentence a period of restraint, following which he’s usually let off the hook.

Just this week, a defendant pleaded guilty to two charges of assault on a female, and was told he would come up for sentencing next year.

But more often than not, the victim elects to withdraw the charges after she’s laid them.

Police prosecutor Tuaine Manavaroa consistently objects to withdrawals in court, invoking the ‘no-drop policy’ to convey that police are serious about prosecuting perpetrators of domestic violence.

According to police commissioner Maara Tetava, police take the policy seriously but victims tend to withdraw anyway.

“Once a charge is laid in court, we will not withdraw even if the complainant/victim requests for withdrawal of the charges,” he said. “In most cases, the day after, most victims tend to have second thoughts about prosecution action and request (that) police not (proceed) with the charges.”

Samuela attributed that tendency to withdraw to the following factors pressure from the perpetrator, pressure from family members and fear of shame.

“There is a tendency to blame the victim and (think) that she needs to change, rather than recognising that the perpetrator has a problem and he needs to change,” she said.

Women internalise the pressure, and find reasons to blame themselves for the cycle of abuse, Samuela noted.

“Women come to us after long periods of violence. During this period they will have been blaming themselves for the abuse, or have found reasons to remain in the relationship,” she said.

She added that most women are in the habit of “trying to change their own behaviour to reduce the incidents of violence”.

Another issue is that a woman fears that if a partner or a husband is sentenced to jail time, she will not be able to feed her family on her own.

Other women trust their partner when he expresses remorse and promises to change.

There are many reasons women put up with an abusive partner, Samuela said, and provided the example of a person who tolerates a horrible job.

“An example often given is a person going to work in a (volatile) workplace. They justify staying in the workplace because it pays for rent, food and mortgage,” she said.

“They can judge (the things) that make the employer yell at them so they try to minimise these. They tell family and friends about the problem but they may say, ‘You need the job’ or ‘Be patient, it will work out in the end’.”

Meanwhile, the job is wearing them down, but it’s still stable and secure. In the same way, cyclical abuse erodes a woman’s self-confidence and she doesn’t feel that she is worthy of, or capable of finding, another partner, so she keeps it to herself.

The ‘no-drop’ policy is something of an improvement, she noted, because it forces police to confront the perpetrator in court, whether or not the victim chooses to withdraw.

To some extent, his presence in court indicates that he’s taking responsibility for his actions.

“However, while the law may be seen as providing a protection mechanism, is the processes which one goes through to access this protection that may (present a problem),” Samuela explained.

“If a complaint is made to the police and the attitude is to blame the woman in their line of questioning – ‘Why didn’t you prepare his food knowing he was going to be hungry when he got home?’ or ‘Oh, not you again, don’t waste your time prosecuting and then you withdraw’ – women may feel that they can’t report the abuse.”

Samuela said that government provides “very little or no support” for abused women.

NZAid-funded NGO Punanga Tauturu does offer counselling services, so if you’re seeking help, contact Kairangi on 21131 it’s confidential.

• Rachel Reeves

Erika and Gerard Kaczmarek, new owners of Cafe Salsa in the CITC complex. 10060901

Cafe Salsa, home to the only wood-fired pizza on Rarotonga, is in new hands.

When former owners Tony and Kelly Bullivant decided to sell the business, New Zealand couple Gerard and Erika Kaczmarek jumped at the chance.

“We did our homework and (Salsa) really stacks up,” Gerard said. “It’s a good location and it’s got a good team, so for us, it works. It’s a business that’s not broken and we intend to keep it that way.”

The couple assumed ownership of the centrally located cafe last week and have been spending their time getting to know staff and diners.

The Kaczmareks have twin daughters, who still live in Auckland.

Erika, who is originally from Zurich, Switzerland, spent years running an office for an Auckland restaurant, so she knows the industry.

Her husband spent most of his career in IT working for big names like IBM, Microsoft and Vodafone, so while running a cafe on Rarotonga marks a change of pace for him, he’s prepared.

The Kaczmareks plan to retain the cafe’s staff, menu and suppliers.

“(The Bullivants) have really grown this over the last five plus years to what it is today, so it’s going to be a relatively easy transition for us,” Gerard said.

Gerard said that he and his wife were initially attracted to Rarotonga because the local people are friendly, and encourages anyone and everyone to drop in and say a quick hello.

The pair first visited Rarotonga on holiday in 2002, and have been coming back ever since. Finally, they decided that they enjoyed the people, the weather and the lifestyle so much that they’d like to re-locate permanently.

Of Rarotonga, Erika said: “What else could you want?”

Cafe Salsa is still open from 8 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 8 am to 2 pm. It stays open late on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and does offer wine, beer and spirits.

The Kaczmareks also intend to continue hosting live music performances on Saturday nights.

“It’s still early days, but we like what we see and hopefully that continues,” Gerard said.

• Rachel Reeves

Keen football fans would have woken up in the wee hours of yesterday morning to watch the spectacular opening ceremony of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

But it doesn’t stop there, football fanatics will be able to watch all 64 world cup matches on local television thanks to Fiji television station Mai TV, which bought the rights to broadcast the event.

Cook Islands Television, along with just about every television station in the Pacific, have drawn up contracts with Mai TV to screen full coverage of the event.

CITV director Jeannie Matenga says that almost all games screened in the Cooks will be live although there will be few delayed games.

Matenga says that this is because there will be a number of games played at the same time and so they will choose which live game they will screen first with the other following straight after.

You can contact CITV for the screening schedule of the matches.

• Matariki Wilson

Nine-year-old Avarua School student Poe Tiare (right) is a regular at Tuesday story time, as is three-year-old Reuben Syme (left). 10060807

The Ministry of Education is treating mothers and their children to a nice afternoon outing and supporting literacy at the same time with its Tuesday story time programme.

Weather permitting, a group of mothers and children gather outside the Cook Islands Museum and Library every Tuesday afternoon from 4pm until 4.30 to listen to volunteer Selena Mills read children’s stories.

Story time has been a regular affair since April, and coordinator Ana Savage said that it’s been ‘really great’.

“It’s a great place to listen to stories, and it’s also great because it encourages reading to your children,” she said.

So whether you’re a mother, a sibling or a babysitter, bring your young ones to Tuesday story time and check it out.

• Rachel Reeves

Local artist Tangee Kokaua is back in Rarotonga after spending eight months in New Zealand recording his seventh album, E Metua Vaine.

He launches the new recording at the Punanga Nui Market today and will be performing some of the songs.

The first song on the album is the Nikao Cultural Group’s kapa rima (action song) which was performed at Te Maeva Nui in 2009. Tangee composed three songs on the album, which is dedicated to his mother.

Tangee will also be promoting the third album of Katarina, aka Kathy Brown, another local performer who was in New Zealand at the same time.

Before she became a solo artists Katrina was in local groups Sweet, Sour and Cream and The Guns of Raro.

• NC

Ngatangiia’s young goal defender puts the squeeze on Avatiu’s Mati Toru. 10061321

Club netball action was back on again at the Telecom Sports Arena at the weekend after a week’s break for the Pacific Series last week.

In the premier grade, the Takuvaine Red Divas were slaughtered 71-35 by the Titikaveka club on Friday night.

Not that Takuvaine were too upset by the results, however, they know it’s time to get serious as the business end of the club season looms.

Meanwhile, the only premier grade game played on Saturday was between the Avatiu Dragonflies and the Ngatangiia Kokiri.

And while Avatiu won the match 69-43, a lot more was expect of this team.

However, the lack of intensity by Avatiu was put down to having a week without games but in reality the Kokiri ladies seemed to have more ‘hunger’ in the game.

Avatiu were 15-10 at the first quarter before stretching their lead to 32-20 at the halftime break.

With the game in the bag so to speak for Avatiu, fans expected the side to lift their game and really show some polished combinations and set plays.

But they were prevented from really spreading their wings by Ngatangiia who must be commended for their fighting spirit and making the game a lively one.

Best for Avatiu was young shooter Mati Toru who grew in confidence through the game with some fantastic movement in the shooting circle.

Work horses Edith Nicholas, Vaito George and Sheeny Buckley, who all stepped out in the third and last quarter of the game, brought ‘spark’ with them to the courts with Buckley aggressively applying pressure on Ngatangiia and forcing the errors.

For Ngatangiia, Punaga Kaveao never stopped working in the defence circle and Daisy Ama managed to overcome frustrations to keep potting goals for her side.

Ngatangiia’s side of experienced hands and young fresh faces were refreshing indeed to watch.

- Matariki Wilson

Weekend results – Avatiu vs Ngatangiia (Avatiu scores first) open 2 grade 28-15, open 1grade 52-18, under 10 grade 14-4, under 12 grade 27-4, under 16 grade 10-17, under 19 grade 34-25, reserve grade 44-35, premier grade 69-43.

Takuvaine vs Titikaveka (Takuvaine scores first) open 2 grade 7-23, open 1 grade 30-41, under 10 grade 13-3, under 12 grade 7-17, under 14 grade 15-19, under 16 grade 23-18, under 19 grade 43-23, reserve grade 49-37, premier grade 35-71.