Editorial: Celebrate Success And Honour Resilience

In honour of International Women’s Day, a global chorus rises to applaud the remarkable achievements and strides made by women across every sphere of life.

Yet, amid the jubilations and accolades, it’s important to cast a spotlight on the unsung heroines—women who, with grit and determination, navigate the complexities of life.

Be it at their homes, with their intimate partners, at work by their male colleagues, in school and among family and so-called friends, something is bound to be amiss.

In every corner of the world, there exists a cohort of resilient women who bear the weight of responsibility on their shoulders.

There are those who just trudge on and take whatever life throws at them as it comes along.

They endure abuse – either physical or verbal – the night before with their partners and yet the next day, prep their children to school and head to work.

You’d think that being financially stable would empower them to move away from their toxic relationships but it’s easier said than done.

For those domesticated women, as if their lives aren’t mundane enough, they painstakingly wait for their oppressors to come home until the cycle begins.

It’s easy to empathise but to sympathise is a whole new meaning.

Just because you know their stories does not mean you understand them. That is just the half of it.

And so, it brings us to the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre analysis of 2023.

It’s found that many of the trends associated with violence against women leans toward economic abuse.

The organisation’s head of Research Ilisapeci Veibuli says some of the women who report their issues with them are forced to do drugs.

You’re probably think: How can a grown woman be coerced to do such a thing?

There are many reasons this would happen and one of them is to gain the partner’s favour in the hope that she won’t have to face abuse.

In another example shared by Ms Veibuli, women are pressured into taking out loans to pay for their partners’ expenses before leaving for the NEC programme.

As shocking as it sounds, these patterns are no isolated to Fiji.

If not the NEC or labour mobility scheme, it’s probably a loan for a car, or downpayment on a house.

The partner insists that she too takes a joint loan even if she does not wish to.

These impacts of economic violence against women don’t have to be restricted to physical abuse.

In fact, psychological abuse is equally damaging and leaves an indelible mark that’s imprinted in the mind for a very long time.

As the world celebrates International Women’s Day, let us remember the women who continue to fight not for themselves and for a more equitable and inclusive future for all.

Their resilience is our inspiration, and their victories are a testament to the indomitable spirit of womanhood

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