Margot
Staunton, RNZ Pacific senior
journalist
Warning: This story discusses
graphic details of sexual abuse.
Alarming
levels of child abuse and rape are driving underage
pregnancy in Fiji, prompting the nation’s high chiefs to
take a hard line on sex offenders.
Health officials
believe teen pregnancy is a “national emergency”, and the
government is forming a special taskforce to address
it.
Children under five are being abused and girls as
young as 10 are getting pregnant, according to government
statistics.
The nation’s Assistant Health Minister
Penioni Ravunawa told parliament last week that almost 500
minors fell pregnant between January and May this
year.
Ravunawa said teenage pregnancy was rarely about
choice, adding that “too often it is about rape, incest and
abuse”.
He told Pacific Waves that illicit
drugs, gender-based violence, overcrowding, poverty and
pornography are behind the surge in numbers.
He said
incest and rape is forcing girls into motherhood and and the
effects on them is far-reaching.
“There’s a stigma and
shame that they carry with them, they are unable to complete
their education, they have a new-born to bring up and and
it’s a burden for the family as well,” he said.
He
said the victims end up trapped in a cycle of
poverty.
“This is a health issue and a social justice
issue, that intertwines with HIV, sexually transmitted
infections (STI’s) child sex abuse and gender-based
violence, leading to severe poverty.”
‘Put a stop to
this disgusting behaviour’
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The Great Council of
Chiefs (GCC) – Fiji’s apex indigenous body – has called for
stiffer penalties for sex offenders.
GCC chairman Ratu
Viliame Seruvakula said customs should not be used to shield
criminals.
“In the case of rape, you are taking away
the innocence of a child, the dignity of the child,” he told
Pacific Waves.
“If we use traditional apologies
and kava sharing (between the parties involved) people will
just go don’t worry, after this we’ll have a couple of bowls
and everything will be fine. No, you’ve got to put a stop to
this disgusting behaviour.”
Seruvakula believes
traditional rituals are being misapplied at the village
level.
“They have been abused or misused I should say,
and I think it’s due to a misunderstanding that one of the
preconditions of the reconciliation process is that it can
be used to replace the statutory system. It can’t.”
He
said traditional bylaws work for minor offences, but need to
be reassessed.
“In the village setting in Fiji, the
village is private property. If the police want to go an
arrest somebody from the village, there’s a certain protocol
they have to go through,” he explained.
“We would like
to open that up a bit to allow the judicial system to be
applied.”
The Fiji Solicitor-General’s Office is
reviewing bylaws and looking at ways to enforce the law at
village level, he added.
Children’s minister says
‘neglect is increasing’
Minister for Women, Children
and Social Protection Sashi Kiran said there were 755 cases
of child sex abuse last year, and 29 involved
infants.
Kiran said parental absence plays a
significant role in child abuse and unwanted
pregnancy.
“Child neglect is increasing, children are
growing up in different families, their parents are occupied
in work, or there are shifting populations, marriage
breakdowns. When children are looked after by others,
generally the risks are increased.”
Child neglect made
offending much easier for sex offenders, she
said.
“There needs to be much more awareness about
child protection because neglect is a big part of it. If
you’re not keeping an eye on your child then its easy for
predators to pounce on them.”
Kiran said rural
communities are begging for help.
“When we go into the
rural areas I am constantly being told, largely by the
women, that they need much more support on gender-based
violence and child sexual violence.”
“I think the
country as a whole knows we need to do much more to protect
our children,” she said.
Ravunawa believes a joint
approach is needed to tackle sex crimes.
“It is
something that the whole of society and the whole of
government need to work together on with the iTaukei
hierarchy, with our communal system, to advocate.”
His
message to parents is to protect their children, and to
communities not to hide behind abuse.
He also urged
churches not to condemn victims.
On Wednesday, the
Fijian government launched the country’s first-ever national
safeguarding policy for all organisations dealing with
children.
Helplines:
If you are in Fiji and
you or someone you know is in need of support you can
freecall:
- In the event of a life threatening
incident call the Police Emergency number 917. - The
Child Helpline on 1325 - The Domestic Violence
helpline on 1560 - The Lifeline Fiji on
1543
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