Ritika Pratap 
The Fiji Women’s Rights Movement is again appalled at the statistics of rape and sexual violence released by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for June.
Executive Director Nalini Singh questioned if we, as a nation, are not ashamed of such statistics.
Singh says every month and year, horrifying statistics are published by the ODPP, and despite the advocacy for calls to protect our women and girls, the data indicates society’s lax attitude towards sexual crimes.
Last month, 16 people fell victim to serious sexual offences, of whom 10 were under the age of 18.
Singh says FWRM’s analysis of trends also concludes that in every year from 2016 to 2022, except 2017, more than 50 percent of such cases finalized in the High Court fall under the age of 18 years.
Singh states that this tragic situation of sexual crimes perpetrated by grandfathers, fathers, uncles, and cousins means that Fiji is a long way from ensuring safe homes and spaces for young girls.
She adds that the gravity of these statistics and the severity of violence in our society are largely ignored, and we need to start seeing who the real perpetrators are.
Singh adds that we also need to see what needs to be done to change the mindsets and attitudes of these perpetrators for the sake of women and girls.
Additionally, FWRM is urging everyone to move away from the common patriarchal perspective that mothers are to blame for “failing to teach their daughters”.
Singh says this common misconception, apart from re-emphasizing gender roles, also serves to remove the accountability of perpetrators and shift the responsibility away from others to provide a safe environment for us all.
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