A string of recent deaths in Port Vila has a young Ni-Vanuatu researcher questioning whether social media is helping or hindering efforts to reduce domestic violence.
The problem of violence in Vanuatu has been a major talking point in local media after two people died in connection to events at the War Horse saloon in the capital.
Brian Tete is a Ni-Vanuatu student currently doing a thesis on this topic at Marmara University in Istanbul, Turkey.
He says while social media can have a positive role in raising awareness, it can also make people in the community targets for abuse.
Tete told Pacific Beat that as a young person he is not happy about the violence and killings happening.
There are Bills that have been ratified in Parliament. As I can see they are just verbal announcements. We want to see more action. We want to see everyone stop killing and stop fighting,” Tete said.
“This research is mainly going to be based in Port Vila but I will also get some of the main data from the Statistics Office in Vanuatu.”
Tete added that he wants to work hard for his country.