Save The Children Fiji is now training parents on how to discipline their children without resorting to physical punishment.

Chief Executive Shairana Ali says they have completed training in ten communities on a program called “Parenting without violence program”.

Ali says the training will equip parents on how to better engage with their children.

“The training focus was to provide skills to parents to address children’s development issues and looks at providing alternative forms of being able to discipline children without resorting to violence.”

She also says they’ve received positive responses from communities where the training was carried out.

“At the moment we can say there has been a lot of positive changes in terms of the behaviors of the parents towards their children and also from their children because they are more aware of their rights and responsibilities.”

Fiji Women Crisis Center Coordinator Shamima Ali says the same program existed 25-years ago and it is pleasing to see its return, given that violence against children has become prevalent.

“We are seeing children who are physically, emotionally and sexually abuse and particularly a lot of physical abuse and those are the reports we getting from the communities and what happens the children learned violence and it is against their human rights, its torturing’s children, beating them up and things like that so programs like this must go out into the wider community.”

A team from ‘Save The Children Fiji’ is also in the Northern Division providing psychosocial support to children and at the same time teaching parents about positive discipline.