Bulitavu has ripped open lasting scars I still carry as a domestic violence victim - Akbar

In a very emotional and personal speech in parliament, Minister for Education Rosy Akbar has said SODELPA MP Mosese Bulitavu has ripped open the lasting scars of the trauma she still carries today as a victim of domestic violence.

Akbar was in tears as she joined the FijiFirst parliamentarians in condemning racist and derogatory comments made by Bulitavu against Indo-Fijian and Itaukei women.

She said she was raised in a very abusive household where her mother suffered in silence.

Akbar says she stands in parliament with so much admiration and respect for her mother for her courage to walk out of a very abusive relationship.

She says she still recalls the day her mother left the man who they call their father - the man who was supposed to love and protect them.

Akbar says she still remembers that fateful early morning after her uncles had taken her mother away when their house got burnt down..

SODELPA MP, Mosese Bulitavu

She says they are working to ensure that every student of any ethnicity has a future that is brighter than ever before but that future cannot be achieved with the kind of darkness spread by Bulitavu.

Akbar says to spread the stigma of violence on such a public platform only serves to silence victims like her.

She stresses that abuse in any form is cowardly and so is typing racist stereotypes remarks behind a keyboard.