23 Apr 2014

Safety concerns in Vanuatu with surge in sex crime

3:55 pm on 23 April 2014

There are signs of a surge in sexual offences in Vanuatu with serious rape offences making up more than half of last month's criminal cases in the Supreme Court.

Now there is a push for public discussion on the issue of violence against women and the country's failure to curb the problem.

President of the Vanuatu National Council of Women, Blandine Boulekone, says women feel increasingly unsafe in Vanuatu, particularly on the main island of Efate.

"It is so painful for us women to hear of all these cases, you know. At the end of the day you don't know what you are. We were feeling safe - some years ago, I remember, it was more safe than today. Now I don't think that we feel totally safe."

President of the Vanuatu National Council of Women, Blandine Boulekone