Domestic and sexual violence has a ripple effect on employees, teams and businesses.

The latest study by the International Finance Corporation shows that absence from work or poor performance of an employee can have ramifications for everyone.

IFC Operations Officer Gender, Shabnam Hameed says productivity levels drop if an employee is affected by domestic violence.

“One of the people said if one chair leg is broken the pressure goes on to the other three legs. And they said if I am affected by domestic or sexual violence then I might be at work but I’ll still be missing. I might be in the bathroom crying my eyes out and this means people will have to do the work I am meant to be doing.”

Hameed says the report called Business Case for Workplace Responses to Domestic & Sexual Violence in Fiji reveals the safety implications such violence has on work colleagues.

“Perpetrators of domestic violence are controlling. They are jealous and controlling and so they often get it into their heads that people are not going to work to earn an income or do their job – they’re just simply going to work to have affairs. They makes threats towards their colleagues.”

The report which was launched earlier this week was acknowledged by the Fijian Government.

Three private sector companies employing 1,701 employees were included in the study revealing that Fiji has one of the highest rates of domestic and sexual violence in the world.