An officer within Samoa's Ministry of Women's affairs says the government must establish safe houses and introduce legislation to protect children at risk of abuse.
Tuia Agaiava, the head of the Pacific Children's Project or PCP, says current laws prohibit any government agency from removing children in abusive environments.
Mr Agaiava says social workers can only encourage positive parenting skills through information programmes such as PCP.
He says leaving children in abusive environments and working with the families are the only options open to government agencies.
"The law is very old in samoa, and it does not give any agency, not even the police, or the justice department, the power to remove a child from their family. The second major part of the problem, is the fact that there are no shelters, there are no, basically no welfare system to support children. The approach we're taking, I know there are risks, I know there are problems, but I think it's the most sustainable approach, for samoa."
Tuia Agaiava in Apia
