15 Apr 2009

NGO in Tonga says legislation is needed to protect women and children

10:00 am on 15 April 2009

An NGO group in Tonga says recent rulings in cases of violence are proof that legislation needs to be changed in order to better protect women and children.

In a domestic violence case, magistrate Latu Mohenoa told the defendant that while he shouldn't have beat his wife, the reason behind his anger was justifiable.

And a teacher who admitted to beating an eleven year old student with the leg of a table was fined just fifty dollars by the same magistrate as compensation to buy the student lollies.

The general manager of the Tongan national centre for women and children, Ofa Guttenbeil-Likiliki, says these cases highlight the legislation that is missing from Tonga law.

She says there is no child protection order act, domestic violence act or family law act.

"These kinds of cases, and these kinds of decisions that are made in our court room, prove the fact that we urgently need to look into creating and developing more positive legislation that will protect every single woman, child and man."

The general manager of the Tongan national centre for women and children, Ofa Guttenbeil-Likiliki.