[Source: Parliament of Fiji / Facebook]

Extortion deters people from reporting the non-consensual distribution of obscene materials involving girls and women to law enforcement agencies.

This was stressed by the Minister for Women, Children and Social Protection Lynda Tabuya during a question and answer session at the Women’s Mock Parliament.

Tabuya says parents would rather stay silent about the matter than see their children endure harassment and embarrassment throughout their lives.

“So the perpetrators are demanding money from their parents to say, you pay this much, and I will not put up this picture. I will not put up that picture. And so parents pay, because they don’t want their daughter to go through the trauma of dealing with, you know, online bullying, especially our teenage girls.”

Lawyer, Sainiana Radrodro says internet service providers also play a vital role in the fight against technology-facilitated gender-based violence.

“So the perpetrators are demanding money from their parents to say, you pay this much, and I will not put up this picture. I will not put up that picture. And so parents pay, because they don’t want their daughter to go through the trauma of dealing with, you know, online bullying, especially our teenage girls.”

Women Minister, Lynda Tabuya

Tabuya says the government remains steadfast in their commitment to address obscene matters.

“The Ministry of Communications to really make some hard decisions. We have now just put together, approved by cabinet, a task force on pornography, just to do a feasibility study and look at the harmful effects of pornography.”

The Minister suggests that Fiji and other Pacific Island Countries should establish a regional legislative framework to make up the number for action against online violence against girls and women.