At least one in every three women around the world and in Fiji has been beaten, coerced into sex or abused in her lifetime with the abuser usually someone known to her.
This was highlighted by the Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Mereseini Vuniwaqa while opening the training for officers of the Fiji Police Force on the topics of Gender, Violence against Women and Understanding the Laws and Practices.
Vuniwaqa says violence against women is a global issue of pandemic proportions, which has an impact on all societies.
She says this training is a result of collaborations with their partners like the Fiji Women’s Crisis Center and they have been instrumental in facilitating a series of training of this kind.
Vuniwaqa says the problem of gender based violence is immense, particularly domestic violence, but also violence against women in disasters, conflict situations and against victims of human trafficking.
She says it is often seen as a private matter and something that goes on behind closed doors and it is a crime.
Vuniwaqa says the state has a responsibility to protect the victim and countries lack laws that criminalize violence against women but Fiji is one of those that have the laws.
She says this training will contribute to a wider understanding on the legislation that deals with domestic violence, an area that Fiji Police Force is dealing with in their daily work as the role of the police in cases of domestic violence and abuse is crucial.
The Minister says government in its pledge to eliminate violence against women has made commitments at various levels that can help change the way women are treated.
She says for example, the 5 year and 20 years National Development Plan places priority on empowering women to reach their full development potential.
Vuniwaqa adds in regards to specific commitments of the Police force, she is happy to note that Police also commits to providing a 24-hours turnaround time on serious cases of violence against women and children so as to improving response time by increasing the percentage of female police officers in frontline services positions.
