Vanuatu violence

Having spent five years living as an aid worker in Vanuatu in the 1990s I wonder whether the Happy Planet Index surveyed women as well as men (Vanuatu tops wellbeing and environment index as Britain fails to make top 100, July 12). Domestic violence was rife, with wives being bought upon marriage by the payment of a bride price. Having paid for them, men felt that they could treat/mistreat their wives in any way that they wanted to. Unfortunately this behaviour was just as prevalent in the police and the Vanuatu Mobile Force, so complaints didn't get taken seriously all that often. It wasn't only physical violence but also included intimidation, with the refusal to allow wives to acquire new skills lest they achieve a better position than their husbands. Many very able wives and girlfriends had opportunities denied them because they were made to withdraw from training courses.

Having said that, living in Vanuatu was the most rewarding experience in my 30-year career as an accounting educationist, and in the main it was a Pacific paradise, but not the most innocent. As to the happiest place on the planet, cannibalism cases were still being heard in the high court on Malekula as recently as 1994.
Simon Morris

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