Fiji is now fighting a battle against sexual offenders who continue to indulge in the crime.

Fiji Women’s Rights Movement Executive Director Nalini Singh says data from the past three years reveals that the highest number of rape cases decided in court was last year.

Singh says in one of the cases in 2017 the judicial officer reduced the sentence for the accused on the basis that the accused was a ‘sole breadwinner’.

The organization believes with the increased number of sexual offenses against women and children, it is timely to reassess the prison terms being dished out to perpetrators.

“Through the judiciary, there has been an increase in the tariffs for child rape offenses. From ten to sixteen years now we see eleven to twenty years being meted out.”

Meanwhile, 2016 had 62 rape cases decided in the high court, 2017 had 60 and 2018 saw a significant increase to 94.