Centre Coordinator Shamima Ali. [Source: Facebook]

The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre will be launching a nationwide Anti-Rape campaign after a lapse of 11 years.

This comes on the day the latest statistics from the Director of Public Prosecution’s office shows the abuse of young victims continuing.

The campaign was launched in 2005 but did not last as the FWCC lacked funds for community outreach.

Center Coordinator, Shamima Ali says the recent case in which a 10-year-old was allegedly raped in an evacuation center by a 20-year-old has prompted stakeholders to take immediate action in hopes of curbing the issue.

“We are planning and developing an anti-rape campaign which we hope to launch on 8th March which is also International Women’s Day. That would also be quite inclusive and comprehensive, getting people on board and raising awareness for people to whom it has happened – for survivors to come out – and what we are really going for is a lot of community support to end rape.”

The FWCC Coordinator says they are also looking at ways to ensure women and girls are protected under every circumstance.

“When disasters of that nature, the lockdown, social distancing, and all those things kick in, we will have an increase, already we have a problem of the prevalence rates are very high in Fiji so it’s further excavated when we have a crisis when we have disasters or things like COVID and cyclones.”

The campaign in March will also ensure the safety of all women and girls.