The Royal Solomon Island Police Force (RSIPF) today (4 June 2018) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Sexual and Gender Based Violence Referrals with other stakeholders under the banner of SAFENET.
SAFENET members include the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, the Public Solicitor’s Office, Family Support Centre, the Christian Care Centre and the Ministry of Women, Youth, Children and Family Affairs
The MoU includes:
• The procedures and the roles of the different parties in responding to sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) and family violence (FV) incidents in the Solomon Islands;
• How to assist survivors of SGBV/FV incidents by;
i. Improving access to appropriate support services for victims, survivors and affected family members; and
ii. Supporting primary prevention.
Commissioner of Police, Matthew Varley explains: “In the provision of Police services to victims of FV and SGBV, the role of the RSIPF is to address the immediate safety of victims to help protect them against further harm.”
The role of the RSIPF is to:
• Investigate reports of violence and collect evidence from witnesses that will assist the Court in issuing protection orders upon application and securing criminal convictions where a complaint is made;
• Arrest perpetrators in circumstances where belief on reasonable grounds exist that an offence has been committed;
• Issue police safety notices (PSN’s) for the protection of victims and comply with legislated directions following issue of PSN’s and assisting the affected person to make an application for a protection order;
• Where a PSN is issued, assist victims in obtaining appropriate services provided for within SAFENET under section 47 of the Family Protection ACT;
• Ensure the safety and welfare of children and make necessary notifications required by the provisions of the Child Welfare Act 2017 (CWA);
• Follow the agreed SAFENET Referral Pathway and Guidecard, use the standardized SAFENET Referral Form (SRF) for all referrals and follow SAFENET Standard Operating Procedures as per the 10 Minimum Standards including confidentiality, informed consent and safety protocols;
• Refer victims to appropriate services (safety, counselling, medical, legal, shelter) within SAFENET as outlined in the referral pathway;
• Develop and implement FV and SGBV prevention strategies in alignment with the RSIPF Crime Prevention Strategy 2016-2018;
• Maintain an up to date register of all FV cases reported to the RSIPF; and
• Provide RSIPF FV statistics upon SAFENET request to the Commissioner.