Vanuatu Women's Centre: 24/7 Hotline

The helpline supports specifically women and children. However, we also provide information to everybody, meaning men included. We specialize in violence against women, domestic violence, gender, human rights, and legal issues. Our primary focus is on free and confidential counselling as well as doing advocacy work to the clients. We also do mobile counselling where we take the services into the communities because we believe that there are women and children out there who cannot make it to the office for various reasons, such as insufficient transport money, being controlled by their partners and family members, and other reasons as well. We do also provide a safe house/refuge for clients who feel that their lives are in danger. Counsellors stay with them in the safe house until they are released, mostly after a court order for their protection is issued by the magistrate's court. We produce client data which are recorded in our monthly reports. We also do community education by facilitating workshops, carrying out awareness raising on the above-mentioned topics. We produce IEC materials, do radio programs, have messages printed on t-shirts and other activities to make the public and communities aware that violence against women is a breach of their human rights. We also do male leaders training in which we facilitate workshops on gender issues and domestic violence with the male leaders in the communities. We network closely with the Mind Care Unit headed by Dr. Obed Jimmy, and are currently member of the National Mental Health Committee. We also network closely with other agencies specialized in other areas, whereby we can refer clients to them.

Helpline ia i sapotem speseli ol woman mo ol pikinini. Be mifala tu i save givim infomesen long evriwan, we i minim ol man tu i insaed. Mifala i spesela long faet agens ol woman, vaelens insaed haos, jenda, raet blong man, mo ol legal isu. Main wok blong mifala hemi blong givim fri mo sekret kaonseling, mo mekem adfokesi wok blong helpem ol klaent. Mifala tu i mekem mobile kaonseling, we mifala i karem ol seves i go long ol komuniti, from mifala i bilif se i gat sam woman mo pikinini we oli no save kam long ofis from plante risen olsem: no gat mani blong transport, partner o famili i kontrolem olgeta, mo sam narafala risen tu. Mifala tu i provaedem wan sef haos/refius blong ol klaent we oli harem se laef blong olgeta i stap long denja. Kaonsela i stap wetem olgeta long sef haos go kasem taem we kot i givim oda blong protektem olgeta, tru long magistrate’s court. Mifala i mekem repot blong ol klaent mo raetemdaon ol infomesen long ol ripot blong evri manis. Mifala tu i mekem komuniti edukesen olsem mekem wokstop, mekem awenes long ol topik we mifala i toktok long hem antap. Mifala i mekem IEC material, talem tok long radio, prentem ol mesej long T-shirt mo mekem ol narafala aktiviti blong mekem komuniti mo pablik i save se vaelens agens ol woman hemi wan brek blong raet blong olgeta. Mifala tu i mekem trening blong ol man lida, we mifala i tekem wokstop long jenda isu mo faet insaed haos wetem ol man lida long ol komuniti. Mifala i wok klosap wetem Mind Care Unit we Dr. Obed Jimmy i hed blong hem, mo mifala i memba blong National Mental Health Committee. Mifala tu i wok wetem ol narafala ejensi we oli spesela long ol narafala eria, blong mifala i save referem ol klaent i go long olgeta.