I got to meet Gloria Steinem once, too--I have her signed biography. dandylion, you would have gotten a huge kick out of some of the women there. The woman who runs the radio station, femLink Pacific, and her mom, attended many of our meetings. Sharon told us how her mom, Rachel, was always involved in the women's rights stuff when Sharon was young and Sharon was bored stiff and thought it was dumb. Now the torch has been passed, and Sharon is very active in all kinds of work for women, peace, and justice. Rachel is now in her late 70s or so, and still going strong. If you are interested in what they do, check out their website and listen to some of their podcasts. They have "suitcase radio" going out to the remote areas, and there are lots of interviews with the women about their day to day lives.
DV awareness in Fiji is about where it was in this country in the late 70s and early 80s. There are a few shelters and women are putting together advocacy centers (Fiji Women's Crisis Center is the most prominent--unfortunately they were tied up with a major training while we were there and we did not get to meet with them). The laws have been upgraded so far as DV goes, but enforcement is spotty and the legal infrastructure in Fiji overall is much less developed. Women do play a role in government, but the culture is still catching up. Transportation issues are a huge problem, as it is very difficult for women on remote islands (or even some interior parts of the main island) to get to court, or to a hospital, or to a shelter.
I have a feeling that things will continue to progress there. We did a lot of work in our colloquium on how to collaborate with each other--making sure groups could pool their resources and provide services to each other's clients. Everyone was enthusiastic about doing it, and I think everyone left with more contacts and more knowledge than they had before. I told them not to get discouraged--things improved in the U.S. through the same kinds of efforts they are making. But it takes time, determination, and a lot of hard work. I think they are up to the challenge, but they can certainly use more funding.