[File Photo]

A three-year-old was identified as the youngest rape victim out of the 81 cases decided by the High Court last year.

The Fiji Women’s Rights Movement carried out an analysis on sexual violence against women and girls based on the cases dealt with in the High Court.

The statistics also reveal that the oldest victim was 83-years-old.

In the 81 cases of rape, all the accused were male while all victims were female.

FWRM Director Nalini Singh says the analysis reveals disturbing findings of the prevalence of child abuse.

Singh says sexual violence is a heinous crime and yet so prevalent not just against women and girls but children as well.

She strongly believes the support of everyone is needed to curb the ongoing issue.

“It can only happen when there is gender equality not just lip service but actually in practice and then we have an environment where there is an end to the types of discrimination, stereotyping that we see against women and girls.”

FWRM also studied the trends in sentences meted out during convictions and found that the highest sentence delivered last year was a life sentence.

On average, sentences meted out in sexual offences and rape convictions start from 10 years 11 months, and the average final sentences were at 13 years 4 months.