The countdown to Friday's National Fa'afafine Pageant continues.

On Tuesday, for the contestants of the Miss Queen of Thrones, it was a day for self-reflection.

The contestants were asked to give voice to their own experience with and understanding the theme of this year’s contest: "Ending violence, stigma and discrimination" during an event held at Samoa Stationery and Books conference room.

The contestants and partner organisations discussed the causes of and solutions to discrimination against fa'afafine.

The Samoa Fa'afafine Association Technical Adviser, Vaito'a Toelupe, said: "We have eight civil societies who are working together with the S.F.A to voice the message of ending violence."

One contestant, Barry Tima, said it was important to share experiences of violence and discrimination.

"We are also learning ways to solve this common issue of violence stigma and discrimination also to share solutions to it," he said.

Mr. Tima presented a poster saying: 'Silence won't solve abuse and violence'.

Another contestant, Fagalima Tuatagaloa, said social media is now the main frontier for abuse against faafafine.

"And the issue starts from within our internal factors such as families, communities," he said.

Visesio Leiataua lesa said the fa'afafine pageant programme is a great way to show ways to solve the issue of violence and stigma. 

"For me the discussion today has shown me there are lots of different [forms of] violence within society, being faced by the faafafine every time," he added. 

The eight civil society groups present at Tuesday’s pageant event included: Samoa Family Health Association (S.F.H.A.); Samoa Victim Support Group (S.V.S.G.); Samoa National Council of Women (S.N.C.W.); Samoa Red Cross (S.R.C.); Nuanua ole Alofa (N.O.L.A.); SamoaAIDS Foundation (S.A.F.), Young Women Christian Association (Y.W.C.A.) and  Samoa Alliance of Media Practitioners for Development (S.A.M.P.O.D.).