Crimes against children remain a pressing issue for the Fiji Police Force, with an eight percent rise in reported incidents noted last month. Acting Commissioner of Police, ACP Sakeo Raikaci, revealed that the overall crime rate surged by 28 percent in September compared to the same month last year.
The reported cases of crimes against children totaled 117, with 90 victims being girls and 27 boys. Of these incidents, 66 percent involved sexual offenses, while 29 percent were related to assaults and five percent pertained to other types of offenses.
Significantly, the Western and Central divisions saw decreases in reported cases, down by 47 percent and 29 percent respectively, whereas other divisions experienced increases. ACP Raikaci also mentioned that 15 percent of these incidents were domestic-related and involved various familial relationships including parent-child and uncle-niece/nephew dynamics.
The rise in crimes against children has been largely attributed to an increase in assault-causing actual bodily harm cases, which climbed from 18 to 26 incidents.