Praneeta Prakash 
Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre Coordinator, Shamima Ali
As Fiji gears up to observe the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence from today, troubling trends in violence against women and girls have been brought to light by the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre Coordinator, Shamima Ali.
Ali says while longstanding issues like domestic violence, intimate partner violence, and rape remain prevalent, new challenges are compounding the crisis.
She says that the violence is further exacerbated by climate change, the intake of the wide use of drugs, and also there’s a new trend of technology-facilitated violence against women and girls.
“We’re seeing an increased number of repeating in that area also. So, you know, on the whole, it doesn’t look too good, and our theme this year is to end impunity, which means that we have to, within many of these cases, the perpetrators, the alleged perpetrators, perpetrators, they go unpunished at all levels of society. We excuse the perpetrator. We blame the victim.”
Ali says this year, the FWCC’s campaign theme, “End Impunity,” aims to address the systemic failures that allow perpetrators of violence to escape accountability.
“We want everyone to come on board and say, this is wrong, this should not be happening in our society, and we need to get rid of it.”
Ali adds that over the past 11 years, 53 women in Fiji have lost their lives due to domestic violence, including a one-year-old child this year.
The FWCC coordinator stresses the need for government investment and long-term programs in schools and communities to equip young people with the tools to prevent violence.
