The Fijian Government is not sitting idle in relation to the perpetuation of violence against women and girls in the country.

During her ministerial statement in Parliament on the National Action Plan, Minister Mereseini Vuniwaqa says they may not be riling up people’s emotions on social media on these matters but Government is working hard to address this social ill.

Vuniwaqa says Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama once stated that violence against women and girls is a national shame.

“In 2019 alone, 10 Fijian women were killed by their intimate partners. It is important to recognize and acknowledge that there are not only painful personal stories behind these statistics – but there are also attitudes, social norms and cultural complacency. Attitudes that are embedded in gender inequality, gender discrimination and patriarchy. To me, knowingly or not, a lot of us give our boys license to act abusively and it’s up to girls to adjust accordingly. This isn’t nature, this isn’t nurture.”

The Minister say the National Action Plan will explain, using data and evidence, what the root causes of violence against women and girls are in Fiji, and what additional contributing factors makes the violence more likely to happen.

The prevalence of violence against women in Fiji is among the highest in the world – with almost two out of three women subjected to physical or sexual violence in their lifetime – double the global average (which is 1 out of 3 women) and most cases are perpetrated by an intimate partner.