There were 870 child abuse and neglect cases reported between January to July this year, according to the Child Welfare Act (CWA) National Database.

Of these, 67 involved juveniles who were offenders.

In highlighting this, Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Mereseini Vuniwaqa, said the launch of the Revised Inter-Agency Guidelines on Child Abuse and Neglect would strengthen response to children in need of care and protection.

The launch was at the Grand Pacific Hotel yesterday.

Ms Vuniwaqa said the most recorded cases for child neglect was lack of supervision, medical neglect, and failure to provide food, clothing or shelter, physical abuse, and sexual abuse.

“The gendered analysis of the cases reported this year shows that a total of 57 per cent of the child victims were reported to be females (494 cases), compared to males (43 per cent, 376 cases),” she said.

“The most reported cases for females were child neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse and teenage pregnancy.

“The most reported cases for males were child neglect, physical abuse and theft to which the child was the offender.

“This revised version reflects the lessons learnt through the implementation of the initial version and highlights the commitment of the Government of Fiji in partnership with key stakeholders like UNICEF, to work together to protect our children.

“Today also marks the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Day (PCAN). The PCAN theme for this year is ‘’Healthy Homes Help Children Grow.” A child’s home is not limited to the child’s immediate family but also includes the communities, schools, and places of worship.”

Edited by Ranoba Baoa

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