Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — There is concern over Bible verses being misinterpreted by some Pacific men to justify domestic violence, a Samoan-Chinese social worker says.

Genevieve Sang-Yum, a lecturer in social work at Unitec's Waitakere campus, runs programs focused on helping Māori and Pacific men break cycles of violence in New Zealand.

She has also provided cultural supervision for social workers, including seven years of service with Women's Refuge.

Sang-Yum noticed an increase in the number of Pacific males coming through her program who believed it was "normal to control or hit" their partners, she told RNZ Pacific.

"A lot of our male Pacific people who have just migrated from overseas have only just discovered and learned about types of behaviors that are unacceptable.

"I have observed that there is a bit of a surprise that what they are doing is wrong."

Although she recognized men can also be victims of domestic violence, she said the majority of cases involved men abusing women.

She pointed to biblical texts being "misinterpreted" by both female victims and male perpetrators and highlighted some examples of scriptures being taken out of context.

There was a lot of focus about "women submitting to men" when in actual fact, the Bible asked husbands to love their wives as Christ loves the church — and Christ died for the church — an arguably greater responsibility, she said.

'JESUS SHOWED US LOVE'

Dunedin-based Samoan Reverend Alofa Lale said the Bible teaches "Jesus always acted in love".

"There is no justification for domestic violence. Jesus preaches the golden rule to love one another as he has loved us.

"These verses are taken out of context when they are used as an excuse for being able to submit their partners to abuse. Relationships are based on love and respect for one another," she said.

"God sent his only son Jesus to the world out of love for people. Christ gave his life for us so that we would have life eternal.

"Jesus showed us love so we should love one another and especially our spouses."

TAKING RESPONSIBILITY

Sang-Yum is urging Pacific men to take responsibility to love their partners in this deeply sacrificial manner.

Another misunderstanding is when Eve was formed from Adam's rib in the Bible, it does not mean she was a man's property to "cohere or control," she explained.

During sessions with Pacific perpetrators of violence, she also highlighted the word "partner" to re-define how men view their wives as an equal teammate.

She said many Pacific men believed it was a women's role "to bear children and to help him to do what he wants" but "when you pull the text out and highlight the word partnership, it changes their thinking, and we talk about equality and what this means".

"The Bible is harmless and we don't tell people to stop believing" but we do examine the text in a wider context and explore abusive behaviors and "what the language of love looks like. Is love hurtful and abusive?"

She said recently a Samoan man who was Christian came through her non-violence program for assaulting his wife in public.

"I hit my partner because it's my right," he told Sang-Yum, adding "she's my partner and the issues I have with her is nobody's business."

She explained that "he does not know any better" due to his upbringing, "childhood trauma" and beliefs.

It was not until we explored the "language of love" and what that looked like that old mindsets began to change, she said.

She said gender norms in the Pacific islands were challenged when people moved to New Zealand because men and women were generally seen as equal.

"A lot of our male Pacific people probably have never had the opportunity to talk about their upbringing, talk about the trauma in their lives growing up because they have been taught to just deal with it.

"A lot of these men suppress their issues because they have been taught just deal with it."

There needs to be a cultural shift especially in Pacific men to prevent and stop domestic violence, she said.

She said it was important to have deep conversations through cultural frameworks and language and to examine beliefs and mindsets that are not true examples of love.