Praneeta Prakash 
The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre has raised alarming concerns about the escalating rates of gender-based violence in the country, particularly those linked to drug-related crimes.
As Fiji marks 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, FWCC Co-ordinator, Shamima Ali highlighted the disturbing trend of increasing physical violence and the involvement of women and children in drug activities.
Ali says they have observed a surge in women seeking shelter to escape abusive situations, often linked to the destructive influence of drugs.
“When men who take some of these drugs, they can go on having sex for a very long time and that turns into rape and horrible violence when the woman refuses to carry on and things like that. So those are the kind of cases, drug-related cases that we are seeing and of course, families breaking down because the person who is taking the drugs, mostly men, that they are not at home or when they are at home they are violent and they are just horrible to the families and women are tending to leave.”
Ali also stresses the impact of drug abuse on families leading to increased domestic violence and family breakdown with majority of the cases emerging in Nadi, Suva and Ba.
“The physical violence is becoming more intense, a lot of it is over money, or the husbands are pushing and forcing the women to take drugs or to push, to deal in drugs and so on. Children are being told by the father to sell at least $20 a day or something like that in school, and if they don’t, they get a hiding, they get a beating and they’re coming to see us also.”
The FWCC stresses the importance of education, community leadership, and sustained action to break the cycle of abuse.
