Crimes against women and children perpetrated by family members continue to be a great concern – Police

The Fiji Police Force says crimes against women and children perpetrated by family members continue to be a great concern.

They say while they are stepping up on their operations on property offences such as aggravated robberies, theft and burglaries, crimes against women and children committed within domestic settings remains a major worry.

They say while the overall crime rate for June had recorded a 11 percent decrease compared to the same period last year, as well as the reduction in crimes against women and children, they are still very concerned with the fact the two crimes are being committed by persons in positions of trust within a family setting.

Of the 94 child victims, 68 were girls and 26 boys.

They say out of the 94 cases, 76 percent were perpetrated by male family members in domestic settings.

Police say also of particular concern is the fact that there were 24 incidents involving multiple counts of sexual-related crimes, including rape, indecent assault and sexual assault.

They say all of the victims in these cases were under the age of 18.

Of the 177 women victims, most of the victims were from 18 to 38 years old with 43 cases domestic related.

74 percent of offences were assault-related with assault causing actual bodily harm, being the most common form of victim abuse.

The Western Division had recorded increases in reported crimes against women while the remaining Central, Northern, Eastern and the Southern Division had recorded decreases.

The Fiji Police Force says they are at the receiving end of these reports, which is why they are prioritizing community policing efforts and continuously reaching out to stakeholders through the vanua, religion and civil society groups to assist us in addressing these heinous crimes which are occuring within domestic settings.