Assistant Minister for Women, Children and Social Protection, Sashi Kiran, stated that the statistics surrounding child sexual abuse should provoke shame within Fiji as a nation. She expressed these thoughts during her end-of-week address in Parliament on Friday.
Ms. Kiran shared recent figures from the Fiji Police Force concerning child sexual abuse cases reported between 2021 and mid-2024. In 2021, there were 729 reported incidents, which increased to 1,034 in 2022, before seeing a decline to 844 in 2023. For the first half of 2024, there have already been 324 cases reported.
Highlighting the severity of the issue, she noted that rape remains the most common offense against children in Fiji. Of the 324 cases reported this year, 215 involved children aged 13 to 17, 94 were from the 6 to 12 age group, and 15 involved infants aged 0 to 5.
Specifically, the data from this year indicates 104 cases of rape, 71 cases of indecent assault, and 60 cases of sexual assault, with females making up the vast majority of victims, totaling 297.
Despite a decreasing trend in overall numbers, Ms. Kiran emphasized that the alarming statistics should compel the nation to reflect deeply. She urged all Fijians to actively address the issues of child sexual and domestic abuse, stressing that the statistics reveal a glaring failure to protect children.
Further data shows that over the last six years, the average age of the youngest victim of child sexual abuse is just two years old, with the youngest being only six months. UNICEF reports that five out of six children in Fiji experience abuse or neglect within their families. Ms. Kiran called for serious attention to these distressing realities.