Litia Cava 
[file photo]IIF
Fiji is facing a child protection crisis driven by drugs, abuse, broken families and the silence is deafening.
This, according to Police Narcotics Bureau Officer Usaia Ratakele.
He pointed to two recent cases where grandfathers allegedly raped their granddaughters, just four and five years old.
“These are not just crimes. They are signs of a rotting society.”
Ratakele warned that marijuana is now a springboard to ice, heroin and cocaine.
“Once they start, they get curious. Then it gets worse.”
He said the real failure lies at home.
“Parents are not taking their role seriously.”
Ratakele’s warning comes as UNICEF and the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Protection report that 81 percent of children aged 1 to 14 in Fiji have experienced violent discipline last year.
That’s not all, 15 percent of youth aged 15 to 24 remain unemployed and officials say these pressures are exploding behind closed doors.
Social Services Director Arieta Tagivetaua says the social and economic fallout from violence and neglect is already costing Fiji 4.23 percent of its Gross Domestic Product.
Tagivetaua said many young people are disconnected from their families.
“They’re looking for peace and love elsewhere, that’s when they fall.”
Tagivetaua’s final plea was direct, “Watch out for children who seem cut off.”
Her warning points to a deeper crisis, children are falling through the cracks and the systems meant to protect them are failing to keep up.
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