15% of new HIV cases in Fiji were related to bluetoothing – FWCC

As 552 new HIV cases have been recorded this year from January to June, 15 percent of these cases are related to bluetoothing, where drug users are not only sharing needles but are also sharing blood.

The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre highlighted this as today marks World AIDS Day on the 16 days of the Activism Calendar, AIDS occurs when HIV has largely destroyed the immune system of an infected person over some time.

The FWCC says this year 380 cases of HIV were reported in the Central Division, 151 in the Western Division, 19 in the Northern Division and 2 in the Eastern Division.

They say HIV/AIDS and violence against women and girls are two very serious pandemics that are intertwined as these pandemics spares no one.

The Centre says according to the FWCC National Prevalence Study, 72% of women in Fiji experience one or more types of intimate partner violence – physical, sexual or emotional and this takes place in their homes – the place where women should feel the safest.

They say who engage in risky sexual behaviours including having multiple sexual partners thus raising the risk of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS.

They say while condom use remains the most effective low-cost prevention method for AIDS/HIV transmission, women in domestic violence relationships usually cannot negotiate for safe sex and contraceptives and have limited ability to refuse unwanted sex.

The FWCC says rape is one of the most pervasive and damaging forms of violence against women and girls, in 2023, FWCC and its branches saw 204 rape survivors of which 115 were marital rape, 61 were child rape and 28 were women rape survivors.

They further say women lack essential information about HIV prevention and face barriers in accessing reproductive health services, restrictive social and cultural norms create a "culture of silence" around sexual health and gender-based violence, silencing survivors.

The FWCC adds that by fostering a culture of awareness and support and disabling an environment of impunity and patriarchy, we can dismantle the societal norms that perpetuate men’s violence against women and girls.