We give boys the license to act abusively and it's up to the girls to adjust accordingly - Vuniwaqa

Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Mereseini Vuniwaqa says violence against women and girls is rooted in gender-based discrimination and social norms that perpetuate such violence in the country.

Vuniwaqa says two out of three women in Fiji have been subjected to physical or sexual violence in their lifetime which is double the global average where most cases are perpetrated by an intimate partner.

She says another issue is that we all give our boys the license to act abusively and it is up to the girls to adjust accordingly.

The Minister also says she agrees with the Acting Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu that police are terrible at treating survivors of domestic violence who are often seen as suspects.

Vuniwaqa says there is a need for a change of mindset in terms of policing domestic violence and now that the officers have completed training on how to deal with domestic violence cases, they no longer have an excuse to continue with the way they have been policing such cases.