The Assistant Minister for Women, Children and Social Protection, Sashi Kiran, expressed that the statistics on child sexual abuse in Fiji should be a matter of national shame. She made these comments while presenting her end-of-week statement in Parliament on Friday.
Kiran shared the latest figures from the Fiji Police Force, detailing child sexual abuse cases reported from 2021 to 2023, including the first half of 2024. In 2021, there were 729 reported cases, which rose to 1,034 in 2022, before dropping to 844 in 2023. So far in 2024, the first six months have seen 324 cases reported.
According to Kiran, rape remains the most common offense against children in Fiji. Breaking down this year’s data, of the 324 cases reported: 215 victims were aged 13-17 years, 94 were aged 6-12 years, and 15 were infants aged 0-5 years. Rape accounted for 104 cases, followed by 71 cases of indecent assault and 60 cases of sexual assault. The statistics indicate that females overwhelmingly represent the majority of victims, making up 297 of the cases.
Despite a downward trend in overall cases, Kiran emphasized that the alarming statistics should provoke introspection for the nation. She urged all Fijians to address the issues of child sexual and domestic abuse seriously, noting that monthly reports from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions reveal a stark reality: the nation is failing its children. The data highlights an average youngest victim age of just two years old, with the youngest victim being only six months old. UNICEF’s findings indicate that five out of every six children in Fiji experience abuse or neglect within their families. Kiran called for urgent attention to this crisis.