Family Affairs, Ceps seek support of religions, spiritual leaders to end violence in homes, communities |30 November 2019

Minister Larue addressing the gathering at the launch of the symposium (Photo source: Ministry of Family Affairs)

Religious, spiritual leaders, counsellors took part in a two-day symposium to share ideas, best practices and explore the best alternatives to end violence in homes and communities.

Organised by the Ministry of Family Affairs in collaboration with the Citizens Engagement Platform (Ceps), the symposium held under the theme ‘Spiritual leaders at the forefront of Development: Exploring the best alternatives to end violence in homes and communities’ took place at the AVANI Hotel Barbarons and was launched by the Minister for Family Affairs, Mitcy Larue.

The aim of having such a discussion, according to Family Affairs is to explore and come up with new approaches to mitigate social ills, further educate and increase the awareness of this group of leaders on gender violence and the national effort to do away with corporal punishment, raise their awareness on the work of various social agencies handling gender violence, share the best way to do referral to social agencies, promote alternatives to corporal punishment, raise awareness of the various pathways/support available for gender violence victims, among others.

In remarks to launch the discussions Minister Larue said her ministry acknowledges that religion is an important institutional reality in the lives of the majority of Seychellois and recognises that religious teachings from the Sacred Scriptures and other writings provide a significant context for Seychellois families and can play a big role in shaping the behaviour, attitude and action of family members.

The fact that violence in the homes and communities threatens lives, changes behaviour and attitudes with its detrimental effects on humans, there is an urgent need to collectively say: ‘NO!’ to such violence.

Additionally worrying is the fact that Seychelles’ Gender-Based Violence Baseline Study 2016 conducted by the Ministry of Family Affairs has revealed significant and pertinent issues affecting our families with regard to gender-based violence. According to the study, 58% of women and 43% of men who participated in the survey claimed to have experienced some forms of violence at least once in their lifetime. Another research conducted in 2018, concluded that the estimated economic cost of Violence Against Women/Girls (VAWG) in Seychelles is high; about 2% of the Gross National Product (GNP). Such a high level of cost is an urgent call for immediate preventive and effective actions.

Minister Larue stated that it is in line with this, that the Ministry of Family Affairs has partnered with Ceps and others to initiate this discussion.

“The government of Seychelles is committed in its campaign to ending gender- based and domestic violence in our homes, community and society at large. In order to achieve this, the support and contribution from each and every one –be it individually, in groups or as an organisation – are extremely vital in this endeavour,” said Minister Larue.

For his part the chairperson of Ceps, Jude Fred, highlighted that gender violence is not selective as anyone can be a victim.

He stressed that society’s failure to address this issue will result in society itself paying high costs socially and economically.

“Numerous studies have shown that children growing up surrounded by violence are more likely to become survivors themselves or perpetrators of violence in the future. Decreasing violence against women and children requires a community-based, multi-pronged approach and sustained engagement with multiple stakeholders. It is therefore very important that we understand the current situation that our country is facing,” he stressed.

It is expected that as an outcome of the symposium the plight of victims and survivors of violence will be better understood and the right intervention will be promptly forthcoming.

Marie-Anne Lepathy