The Vanuatu Supreme Court building in Port Vila. Photo: RNZI / Jamie Tahana
The chair of Women Against Crime and Corruption in Vanuatu Jenny Ligo says the sentence given to three men who assaulted a woman is a crime in itself.
The men stripped the woman, groped her, beat her and dragged her across the ground because she refused to marry one of them.
They received a sentence of 200 hours community service and were ordered to pay US$270 each.
Jenny Ligo said the situation was very distressing and shows that men in Vanuatu are still living in the stone age.
"If I was a judge they'd be behind bars why do they give them 200 hours community service?," Ms Ligo asked. "They have committed a crime, even though she refused it doesn't give them the authority to drag her, to humiliate her and beat her."
