Ninety one rape judgments have been handed down by the Fiji Courts over the last two years up until earlier this year.

Out of this, eighty-nine cases were before the High Court and two before the Magistrates Court.

The statistics reveal that in all the cases the perpetrator was male and averaged thirty-eight years of age.

These statistics were revealed in a research report released by the Fiji Women’s Right Movement, Balancing the Scales; Improving Fijian Women’s Access to Justice.

FWRM Team Leader for the Justice Program, Menka Goundar says the report reveals thirty-nine victims were women while sixty-two survivors were between the ages of three to seventeen.

“These women experienced violence for an average of 868 days before they went to the police or courts to resolve these issues. 8 in 10 rated the following factors as ‘important, very important or critical’ when deciding to visit the police or court for their family violence or family law matter; Concern for their children, access to legal advice and/or support and Lack of financial means.”

The research information launched yesterday has also laid out recommendations to assist the justice system in improving the access provided to women.