Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre Co-ordinator Shamima Ali says Fiji has an average rate of 64 per cent of women who have been in an intimate relationship resulting in physical and sexual violence.

“It’s about 64 per cent so that’s one third of women; the global average rate is 30 per cent and we are 64, so we are double and that’s about six in 10 women.”

“Sixty-one per cent is for women subjected to physical violence so that’s three in five women and 34 per cent of women have been sexually abused or raped,” she said.

“We have high rates of violence against women in any country; when you have high rates of violence against women, that country has got a huge problem with gender inequality.”

She said the centre attended to 10,000 calls last year through their 1560 toll-free helpline which has been operational for five years with the Fijian Government giving the centre $200,000 every year to operate the helpline.

“Nearly 7000 of the 10,000 calls was for domestic violence and, then rape, child rape and so on.

“The statistics is horrendous,” she said.

She said Fiji’s high rates of poverty and sudden unemployment amongst women caused some to resort to prostitution to earn for their families.

“Women were the first to be laid off; first for their salaries to be cut, and so on.”

“That created another scenario at home of violence and so on.”

“Some businesses took advantage of COVID to pay less and so the people were hard-up,” she said.

“Some women during that time were forced into prostitution by their families by the men who are supposed to love and protect them, just to make ends meet, things were so bad, particularly after the first wave, and we’ve got all the documentation around that.”

She said the centre service delivery protocol involved being in partnership with Government.

“We have partnered with Government and NGOs.”

“We have come together with service delivery protocol on violence against women.”

“We have a good legislation around rape and domestic violence,” she said.

She said they also had a National Action Plan for the prevention of violence against women, which was the initiative of the former Minister for Women, Mereseini Rakuita.

She said the Fijian Government was expected to launch the National Action plan in June.

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