Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Mereseini Vuniwaqa has highlighted that last year 38.9 percent of all sexual offences in Fiji were committed against children.
While speaking at Klean and Brite Cleaning Services Futsal Championship at the National Hockey Centre, Vuniwaqa says 24. 3 percent of all cases were where the victims and perpetrators were related or known to each other.
[Photo: Fijian Government]
This is according to statistics from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Vuniwaqa says we cannot allow ourselves to be desensi-tized by the frequency of these crimes nor allow this topic to phase out of our daily conversations.
She adds the ministry is therefore grateful to the organizers of events such as the soccer tournament for using the platform to advocate against child abuse.
Vuniwaqa emphasized the aim of the Fijian Government in addressing the issue of child abuse and neglect through policies and partnerships.
[Photo: Fijian Government]
The theme of this year’s championship was ‘STOP CHILD ABUSE RIGHT NOW’.
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