Domestic violence spikes in FijI over Christmas

Domestic violence spikes in Fiji over Christmas

Sunday, January 5th, 2014

Domestic violence has spiked over Christmas – New Year in Fiji.

Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre says it has received reports of 120 cases of violence against women in the past eight days.

The news comes less than a month after the Fiji Women’s Crisis centre released the results of a survey that showed 64 per cent of women in Fiji suffer from sexual and physical abuse.

Shocked by the alarming numbers, Women’s Crisis Centre’s coordinator, Shamima Ali, said the Centre finds the violence starts just before Christmas and peaks on New Year’s day.

“There’s a lot of alcohol consumption, there’s a lot of conflicts about the financial constraints caused by this…the fact that people stay away from home and drink, go clubbing, and perhaps don’t get back home, all this under the influence of alcohol.

“There’s a lot of family tensions, this is a time when families get together in the country…often the most vulnerable…are the women.”

Ms Ali says many incidents of violence against girls and women are not reported to authorities.

Ms Ali says there are risks and benefits for women brave enough to speak publically of their experience of violence.

“I believe that it does help the cause but what we need is that if ..women go public they need free counselling, they need to be prepared to face the repercussions which in some cases can be quite a lot,” she said.

Sources