Sashi Kiran, Assistant Minister for Women, Children and Social Protection, expressed that the statistics regarding child sexual abuse in Fiji should invoke shame within the nation. In her end-of-week statement delivered in Parliament on Friday, she highlighted the latest figures released by the Fiji Police Force concerning child sexual abuse incidents reported from 2021 to 2023, including January to June of 2024.
According to Ms. Kiran, there were 729 reports in 2021, an increase to 1,034 in 2022, and then a decrease to 844 in 2023. In the first half of 2024 alone, there have been 324 reported cases. She emphasized that rape remains the most common crime against children in Fiji.
Looking specifically at the 324 cases reported this year, the breakdown is as follows: 215 cases involved children aged 13-17, 94 cases involved children aged 6-12, and 15 cases involved infants aged 0-5 years. Within these incidents, there were 104 cases of rape, 71 cases of indecent assault, and 60 cases of sexual assault. Notably, females comprised the vast majority of the 297 victims identified.
Despite a declining trend in the figures, Ms. Kiran remarked that these numbers alone do not capture the full scope of the issue, urging the nation to engage in serious introspection regarding child sexual and domestic abuse. She pointed out that data released monthly by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) continues to reveal the ongoing failures to protect children, with the average age of the youngest victim of sexual abuse in recent years being just two years old. Shockingly, the youngest victim recorded was only six months old. UNICEF statistics indicate that five out of every six children in Fiji experience abuse or neglect from family members.
Ms. Kiran called for collective action from all Fijians to address this serious concern, stating, “We need to take these things seriously.”