FWCC welcomes PM's statement on violence against women

The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre has welcomed the statement on violence against women by Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama in Turkey.

Coordinator Shamima Ali said the Prime Minister must be congratulated for the speech which recognises that there is no excuse for violence against women.

Ali said they welcome Bainimarama’s statement on this global platform because it sends a strong message that violence against women will not be condoned.

She said violence against women and children in recent years has prompted national soul-searching and it is vital that our leaders speak out against the problem and also debunk the myths surrounding the dynamics of gender-based violence.

Ali said Bainimarama’s comments come at a time when two national leaders in the Speaker of Parliament Dr Jiko Luveni and a senior official of the Methodist Church Reverend Iliesa Naivalu, have made statements that effectively put the blame on women for provoking their partners’ violence and for arousing men to rape because of how they dress and questioning whether women can go and drink alcohol with men in the bushes.

She said these archaic ideas surrounding violence against women have been shown to be false by global research, including the Crisis Centre’s own major study titled ‘Somebody’s Life, Everybody’s Business”, which puts the spotlight on how prevalent, varied and widespread violence against women is across Fiji.