SEXUAL ABUSE OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN MUST STOP!
ON THE ODPP STATISTICS FOR RAPE AND SEXUAL OFFENCES, IN THE MONTH OF APRIL THERE WERE 24 VICTIMS OF WHOM 12 VICTIMS WERE UNDER THE AGE OF 18 YEARS Sexual abuse of children must stop immediately: Save the Children Fiji.
Sexual abuse and assault of women and children must stop. This was the strong message from Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre coordinator Shamima Ali in light of recent cases of sexual assault on children.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP) in the month of April recorded that 26 people charged with a total of 63 counts of sexual offences.
The offences were rape (40), defilement (two) indecent assault (four) and sexual assault (17).
Of the 26 accused persons, three were juveniles and one was a police officer. “Every week, every day we are hearing of rape, sexual assault at the crisis centre,” Ms Ali said.
“Most of the cases are those who are known to the survivors and out of that most accused are relatives of the victims. This is unacceptable.
“This must be strongly condemned!” She said as a society, everyone must come together to address this issue. “We need to talk about what is happening to our children to our women and girls and also who the perpetrators are,” Ms Ali said.
“Government has plans, we have drafted the national action plan for the prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls and that is yet to reach the cabinet.
“That needs to be accelerated and amplified over and over again, there needs to be a budget for that.” According to the ODPP stats for rape and sexual offences released yesterday, in the month of April there were 24 victims of whom 12 were under the age of 18 years.
There were 12 incidents where the victims and the accused were related to one another.
“A police officer, 45, was charged with the indecent assault of his 31-year-old wife. A 14-year-old boy was charged with the rape of his three-year-old cousin while in another incident, a boy, 16, was charged with three counts of rape of a boy, 13, from his school,” the ODPP statement said.
Save the Children
Save the Children Fiji (SCF) CEO Shairana Ali said she strongly condemned the recent reports of sexual abuse of children in Fiji.
“It is appalling, distressing and distasteful to learn of reports of children these past few months who are as young as three and four years old becoming victims of heinous sexual crimes,” Ms Ali said.
“Child sexual abuse is a serious violation of children’s rights and robs a child of the opportunity to enjoy their childhood while impacting them emotionally, psychologically and physically in the long term.
“The damage faced by children who are sexually abused is a lifelong one.” She called on Government and all relevant stakeholders to address the increasing number of sexual attacks on children.
“It is time for us to have hard conversations about child sexual abuse. We must break the silence and the taboos around sexual abuse conversations especially with our children and begin to shine a light into this abhorrent practice,” she said.
SCF reiterates that every child has
It is appalling, distressing and distasteful to learn of reports of children these past few months who are as young as three and four years old becoming victims of heinous sexual crimes. Shamima Ali Women’s Crisis Centre coordinator
a right to safety and protection and a child is never responsible for the sexual abuse.
“We must do better to protect our children. When communities work together and take action, we are able to provide a safe and nurturing environment for our children. All children deserve a good start in life,” she said.
“They deserve to live a life of dignity and enjoy their childhood. Child sexual abuse and neglect are serious social problems that can have long-term impact on health, education, opportunity, and wellbeing of children.
“We must address this scourge in our community now, whether through national platforms, community talanoa sessions, faith-based settings or even in family. These hard conversations must be had.” Ali added.