17 Mar 2016

Demand for Solomons domestic havens expected to grow

2:44 pm on 17 March 2016

It's expected that the demand for safe havens for victims of family violence in Solomon Islands will grow when the Family Protection Act becomes Law.

The Act, which ensures protection for people who experience domestic violence, is due to be gazetted next month.

Seif Pleis is a referral centre and health clinic in Honiara offering care to survivors of sexual and gender based violence.

Its manager, Kim Abbey, said she wants to replicate the Seif Place model across the country.

"It's very easy to run and it's perfect for a low resource setting," she said.

"What I'm advocating with the Ministry of Health here is that we run that model throughout all of the regional health centres so every rural health centre in the Solomon Islands is able to provide assitance to somebody coming forward to them."

Kim Abbey said about 450 people were assisted at Seif Pleis last year.