Sexual offences

I BELIEVE the Crimes Act of 2017 lists 250 different types of criminal offences classified under five major categories.

These are reflected in the Crime Statistics Annual Reports produced by the Statistics Unit of the Fiji Police Force.

Under one of the above mentioned five categories, namely, “Crimes Against the Person” are included: Murder; Attempted Murder; Manslaughter; Infanticide; Serious Assault; Act with intent to Cause Grievous Bodily Harm; Assault on Police; and Common Assault.

Under another of the five categories, namely, “Crimes Against Public Morality” are included: Rape and Attempted Rape; Indecent Assault; Defilement; Incest; Sexual Assault; Abduction of a person under 18 years of age with intent to have carnal knowledge; and Other Crimes Against Public Morality.

In 2019 I believe it would be difficult to find two people to agree on what constitutes “public morality”.

However, while all the sexual offences listed under Crimes Against Public Morality” are indeed indisputably against public morality should they not, more appropriately, be re-classified as “Crimes Against the Person”? The prevalence of sexual offences in Fiji is all too apparent. The impact upon the victims concerned is immeasurable. I believe the public should indeed be offended by sexual offences but to categorise sexual offences as “against public morality” is I believe to fail to comprehend just how “personal” they are to the victim and to fail to recognise and respect the victim as a person.

For this reason I believe the judiciary and the police need instead to start categorising all sexual offences not as offences “Against Public Morality” but rather what they are - offences “Against the Person”.

TIM HOWICK-SMITH

Lami