[Source: The Pacific Community]

The Pacific Community’s Principal Strategic Lead for Women and Girls, Mereseini Rakuita, is urging journalists to stop reporting gender-based violence as if it were just another routine news item.

Speaking this morning at the Inaugural Women in Media conference, she reminded reporters of the influence they hold and the responsibility that comes with it.

She stated the media has the power to shift public perception and drive national change, but it isn’t using that power effectively.

Rakuita challenged journalists to reflect on their role not just as narrators but as catalysts.

She pointed to the widely cited national study on violence against women in Fiji, now more than ten years old.

That data revealed that 64 percent of Fijian women have experienced physical, emotional, or sexual abuse.

She stressed that some were punched, some were raped and some were burned and much of the violence happened inside their own homes, inflicted by someone they knew.

Rakuita acknowledged that fresh research is underway but questioned how many in the media had ever read the original report or truly understood the extent of what it revealed.

She warned that relying on outdated numbers weakens the urgency and fails to reflect the lived reality of women today.

She stated that the reality is worsening.

Rakuita also addressed the role of faith in Pacific societies.

She stressed that while it can be a powerful force for good, she warned that religion is often used as a shield to justify abuse.

Rakuita urged religious and community leaders to speak out and take responsibility for shifting cultural norms that enable violence.

She also said the work cannot stop at policy.

The former Minister for Women stated that Fiji has a National Action Plan to prevent violence against women and girls, with 13 sectors named as responsible actors, but she questioned whether these sectors even understand their roles.

She stressed that without media attention and public pressure, she warned, the plan risks becoming a document that gathers dust rather than drives change.

She urged journalists to stop waiting for tragedy and instead seek out stories of women leading, building, and changing lives and tell them with honesty and care.

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