Merilyn Tahi

Merilyn Tahi (born 26 June 1950) is a campaigner against domestic violence from Vanuatu, who co-founded Vanuatu Women's Centre and was the first woman from the country to become a municipal councillor. She was recognised as the fortieth Commonwealth Point of Light in 2018.

Merilyn Tahi
Coordinator, Vanuatu Women's Centre. The centre provides legal support, counselling, and temporary shelter for women who have been abused and carries out advocacy and awareness raising. Vanuatu 2009
Born (1950-06-26) June 26, 1950
Ambae
CitizenshipVanuatu
EmployerVanuatu Women's Centre
AwardsCommonwealth Point of Light

Early life and education

Tahi was born on 26 June 1950 on Ambae.[1] The eldest of seven siblings, her parents worked for the Anglican Mission on the island.[1] She was one of the first students to attend Malapoa College, where she studied from 1966-70, coerced into leaving the school early to marry.[1] She worked for the Vanuatu government for twenty years, before and after independence.[1] In 2003 she graduated from Revans University with a BA in Management.[1]

Women's rights

In 1975 she was elected Vanuatu's first woman to be a municipal councillor.[2] In the 1980s she volunteered of several committees relating to women's issues, as well as the operation of non-governmental organisations in Vanuatu.[1]

In 1992 Tahi co-founded the Vanuatu Women's Centre, which was created to support survivors of domestic violence.[1] In the 1990s gender equality was not a priority for the government and it took courage to hold them to account by establishing the VWC.[1] Women face many barriers to accessing land in the country and in 2004 Tahi used her personal experience to draw attention to homelessness that many Pacific women face.[3] At a regional meeting she recalled how after her death of her husband in 1997, she was thrown out of her matrimonial house.[3] She advocates for home-grown initiatives which are culturally sensitive have the greatest impact on gender-based violence.[4]

Tahi worked as an Election Observer for Nauru in 2016, alongside Anote Tong and Lorna Simon.[5]

During 2018, whilst Vanuatu celebrated thirty-six years of independence and government that it was one of the happiest countries in the world, Tahi challenged this narrative by openly discussing the high levels of domestic violence that women in the country were subjected to.[6] In 2020 Tahi worked with the Vanuatu Women's Centre to mitigate the double impact of Cyclone Harold and COVID-19.[7]

Awards
6th Pacific Regional Meeting on Eliminatig Violence Against Women and Girls

In 2018 Tahi was honoured as the 40th Commonwealth Point of Light, a series of award recognising the contributions of volunteers in the Commonwealth of Nations.[8] In her acceptance speech, Tahi stated that she was accepting it on behalf of the Vanuatu Women's Centre.[9]

In 2020 the Australian High Commission recognised Tahi with the 40th Anniversary Gender Equality Advocate Award, a one-off award celebrating her lifetime's work toward gender equality.[2][10]

References
  1. Matas, Tatavola. "Winner of the Australian High Commission 2020 International Women's Day 40th Anniversary Gender Equality Advocate Award" (PDF). Australian Embassy of Vanuatu.
  2. "The Australian High Commission recognises three outstanding women – Vila Times". Retrieved 2021-02-17.
  3. Naupa, Anna (2017-03-22), McDonnell, Siobhan; Allen, Matthew; Filer, Colin (eds.), "Making the Invisible Seen: Putting Women's Rights on Vanuatu's Land Reform Agenda" (PDF), Kastom, property and ideology (1st ed.), ANU Press, pp. 305–326, doi:10.22459/kpi.03.2017.10, ISBN 978-1-76046-105-8, retrieved 2021-02-17
  4. "'Home-grown initiatives to end violence against women show better results'". Pasifika Rising. 2018-12-12. Retrieved 2021-02-17.
  5. "Commonwealth election observers head to Nauru, led by former President of Kiribati". The Commonwealth. 2016-07-01. Retrieved 2021-02-17.
  6. "Vanuatu justice system fails women". RNZ. 2016-08-04. Retrieved 2021-02-17.
  7. "Across the Pacific, crisis centres respond to COVID-19 amid natural disasters". UN Women. 10 June 2020. Retrieved 2021-02-17.
  8. "Tahi – A Point of Light for Vanuatu". Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development. Retrieved 2021-02-17.
  9. "Vanuatu". Points of Light. 2018-03-28. Retrieved 2021-02-17.
  10. Massing, Adorina (5 March 2020). "Celebrating Women Leaders". Vanuatu Daily Post. Retrieved 2021-02-17.
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