84% of LGBTQI community have experienced physical intimate partner violence

As we marked the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia yesterday, the NGO Coalition on Human Rights has stated that it is working to end the silencing, marginalisation, shaming, discrimination and murder of the members of the LGBTQI.

This comes after a study by DIVA for Equality Fiji shows that 84 percent of lesbian, gay, transgender women and gender non-conforming people have experienced physical intimate partner violence.

The DIVA for Equality Fiji report states that more than half of the lesbian, gay, transgender women and gender non-conforming people surveyed have been verbally abused due to their sexual orientation and gender identity.

Their 2018 research report is titled “Unjust, Unequal, Unstoppable: Fiji Lesbians, Bisexual women, Transmen and Gender Non-Conforming People tipping the scales toward justice”.

The report further says that another 44 percent who had experienced sexual assault said they would never tell anyone except close friends as there is a high degree of distrust of the wider Fiji society.

The Chair of the NGO Coalition on Human Rights Chair Nalini Singh says violence and stigma faced by the LGBTQI community in Fiji and the Pacific is disturbingly prevalent and often invisible because of the entrenched patriarchal culture of silence.

Singh says the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and the intersex community must always be protected even during these times of the pandemic which exacerbates the situation for already marginalised communities.

She says Fiji is in recovery mode post-TC Harold and this is a crucial time to raise awareness and prioritise human rights to ensure no one is left behind.

Singh says more needs to be done to address human rights violations against the LGBTQI community.

She says there is a need to promote a human-rights based approach in challenging community attitudes that harm people.

Singh says this begins with all individuals to break the silence and join in solidarity to promote and protect LGBTQI rights and all human rights.

She says this year’s theme, the Fiji NGO Coalition on Human Rights stands in solidarity with the LGBTQI community and human rights defenders in “Breaking the Silence” against discrimination, stigma and violence.

Singh says the Fijian Constitution prohibits discrimination against people on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, but there remain limiting provisions that are barriers to their full recognition and protection.

The Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission is expected to release a statement today on the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.