Vanuatu's Women's Centre director, Merilyn Tahi, says the Family Protection Act has no teeth and changes are needed.
The measure, which is aimed at combatting domestic violence, was brought in three years ago but its key features have never been implemented.
The Act calls for authorised persons on each of Vanuatu's 83 inhabited islands to whom women can report domestic violence but none of those people have been appointed.
The Act is due to be reviewed next year.