Concerns regarding crimes against children remain a priority for the Fiji Police Force, with an eight percent increase in reported incidents in the past month. Acting Commissioner of Police, ACP Sakeo Raikaci, noted that the overall crime rate rose by 28 percent in September compared to the same month last year.
According to ACP Raikaci, there were 117 reported cases of crimes against children, with 90 victims being girls and 27 boys. He highlighted that 66 percent of these cases were classified as sexual offences, 29 percent as assault-related, and the remaining 5 percent as other types of offences.
While the Western and Central divisions saw decreases of 47 percent and 29 percent respectively, other divisions reported increases in crime. ACP Raikaci also mentioned that 15 percent of the cases were domestic-related, involving relationships such as parent-child and uncle-niece/nephew.
The increase in crimes against children is primarily attributed to a rise in the number of assault-causing actual bodily harm cases, which jumped from 18 to 26.