30 Jun 2015

Cook Islanders to give feedback on Family Law Bill

2:21 pm on 30 June 2015

Cook Islanders are set to give feedback to the Parliament on the Family Law Bill, which is a bid to clamp down on domestic violence.

The chairman of the Family Law Select Committee, Moana Ioane, says the committee will call its first meeting towards the end of July.

At the second reading on June the 19th, the Minister of Health, Nandi Glassie, said the bill had sparked a lot of interest in Cook Island communities and was likely to garner "heated" debate.

One in three Cook Island women up to the age of 64 have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime.

The bill aims to modernise family law in the areas of divorce, domestic and child support, parenting arrangements and the care and protection of children.

Among other things, the law would enable anyone experiencing domestic abuse to apply for a protection order.