Incidents of crimes against women and children saw a significant rise last month, with reported crimes against women climbing by 39 percent and those against children increasing by 9 percent.
Among the 232 cases of crimes against women, a staggering 88 percent were related to assault, while 12 percent were classified as sexual offences. Additionally, 31 percent of these incidents were domestic in nature, involving a spouse or partner.
A contributing factor to the surge in crimes against women was the specific offense of assault causing actual bodily harm, which had 181 reported cases—an increase of 65 cases compared to the same period last year.
In terms of crimes against children, there were 153 cases recorded, with 96 victims being girls and 57 boys. Of these cases, 53 percent were sexual offences, 35 percent involved assault, and 12 percent were related to other types of offences.
The Fiji Police Force indicated that the rise in crimes against children was primarily attributed to an increase in assaults causing actual bodily harm, which jumped from 25 to 45 cases.