[Photo: FILE]

The Fiji Women’s Rights Movement is calling for urgent reforms within the justice system following the withdrawal of a sexual violence case involving a child survivor who waited six years for justice.

The organisation says the case, highlighted in a recent report by a local news outlet, exposes serious systemic failures that continue to delay justice for survivors of sexual violence and allow abuse against children to persist.

FWRM says the survivor was just six years old when the alleged abuse occurred and was still waiting for justice at the age of 13 when the matter was withdrawn.

The organisation says such delays not only deny survivors timely justice but also prolong trauma, deepen anxiety and undermine a child’s sense of safety and dignity.

According to FWRM’s ten-year analysis of rape cases decided in the High Court between 2016 and 2025, most victims and survivors were under the age of 18.

The organisation says infants and very young children continue to be among the victims recorded in court cases, including a six-month-old child in 2018 and a six-year-old child in 2025.

FWRM says its research also found survivors often wait between two and three years for cases to be decided, while existing court backlogs can lead to even longer delays.

Executive Director Nalini Singh says when systemic barriers repeatedly fail a child, it is the system itself that must be reformed.

Singh says survivors of sexual violence must be able to access support and legal processes that prioritise their safety, dignity and long-term recovery.

She says the situation must not become a precedent for other women and girls seeking justice and struggling to have their cases heard.

FWRM says as a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Fiji has an obligation to ensure the safety and protection of all children and uphold every child’s dignity and rights.