12 percent of the unemployed are women – PM

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says because of the increased demand for women’s unpaid care work, particularly during and after the pandemic, women make up 12 percent of the unemployed, compared to 5 percent of the portion of Fijians in the labour force that are unemployed.

In his Easter message, Rabuka says this has led to women experiencing new or heightened levels of poverty.

He says the Fiji Country Gender Assessment is an analysis of the challenges facing women and girls across various sectors such as health, economy, education, environment, gender-based violence., social and cultural norms, leadership and decision making.

The Prime Minister also highlighted that Fiji has one of the highest rates of violence against women and girls and this problem peaks during festive seasons.

He adds in 2020, 94 percent of rape and sexual assault victims were women and out of every 10 women, four experience severe physical violence and 15 percent of these women have been physically attacked during pregnancy.

Rabuka says data collected from the Domestic Violence Helpline reveals that during the festive season over the past 5-years, more than 1,200 domestic cases were recorded in the months of April and May each year, followed by almost 900 cases in December.

The Prime Minister adds that data from the Fiji Country Gender Assessment will assist them identify gaps and put together solutions that address inequalities.