Crimes against children remain a significant issue for the Fiji Police Force, with an eight percent rise in reported cases noted last month. Acting Commissioner of Police, ACP Sakeo Raikaci, reported that there was a 28 percent overall increase in crime rates in September compared to the same month last year.
The statistics revealed that there were 117 cases involving children, with 90 of the victims being girls and 27 being boys. Of these cases, 66 percent were classified as sexual offenses, 29 percent were related to assaults, and the remaining 5 percent fell under other categories.
Notably, the Western and Central divisions saw reductions of 47 percent and 29 percent, respectively, while other divisions experienced increases. ACP Raikaci mentioned that 15 percent of the cases were domestic in nature, involving relationships such as parent-child and uncle-niece/nephew. He indicated that the surge in child crimes can be primarily attributed to a rise in assault-causing actual bodily harm, with cases increasing from 18 to 26.