FWRM deeply concerned with gender based violence during COVID-19 pandemic

The Fiji Women’s Rights Movement says ten women tragically lost their lives to domestic violence in 2019 and the FWRM is deeply concerned with news reports of a young woman that was allegedly stabbed to death by her partner in Naitasiri.

Executive Director Nalini Singh has also reiterated the need to prioritise responses to gender based violence during the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the added stress emerging from the pandemic, FWRM realises that the vulnerabilities of women and girls has increased even further.

FWRM along with other women’s rights organisations and the Ministry of Women have warned of a likely increase in domestic violence in lockdown situations.

Singh says according to their research, it generally takes a woman more than 2.5 years to report domestic violence.

She says with COVID-19 restrictions, this enforced isolation could mean the worst case scenarios for victims or survivors and those at risk.

FWRM has also commended the Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation for the formation of the Gender Based Violence Working Group and the COVID-19 Response Gender Working Group to gauge the impact of COVID-19 on women and girls.

Rape statistics are worrying

Singh says additionally, news reports of the alleged rape of a 2-year-old girl in Rakiraki is disheartening, particularly after continued analysis by FWRM notes, that the average age of the youngest victims or survivors of Sexual Violence and Rape Cases heard in the courts from 2016-2019, was under 5 years.

The movement’s analysis also found that all victims/survivors of the 101 rape cases decided by the High Court last year were female. The oldest victim/survivor was a 63-year-old woman whilst the youngest victim/survivor was 2 years and 11 months old child.

In all 101 cases of rape, all the accused were male, the youngest accused was 12 years old and the oldest at 83 years of age.

The average age of victims from 2016 to 2019 is 16 years old and 53 percent of victims were under 17 years of age.

Singh says this is a sad reflection of our society.

She says there is no excuse for such despicable acts of crime and we need to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice and also address the deeply entrenched patriarchy in our communities which perpetuates violence against women and girls.

If you are, or know of anyone at risk of, or subjected to domestic violence please call the Domestic Violence Helpline Number on 1560 and the Child Helpline on 1325.