Save the Children Fiji CEO Shairana Ali is calling for an immediate stop to the sexual abuse of children.
She said this in the wake of statistics by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions that revealed 10 children were victims of serious sexual offences in June.
This is a very serious state of affairs.
There is a need, Ms Ali said, to create safe and violence-free communities for children.
“This is a shameful wake-up call to everyone to end this horrendous and uncalled-for offences against children in Fiji,” she said.
She called out perpetrators who had broken the trust of children, and said statistics indicated that most of the children were sexually abused by people known to them, including family members who were supposed to protect and care for their well-being.
In February this year, Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre coordinator Shamima Ali had a message for parents: “Never leave a child to take care of young children or infants!”
She believes children should be left in the care of someone you really trust.
Her reaction came in the wake of reports of sexual attacks on children by children.
It followed the case of a 12-year-old boy who was charged with the rape of his three-year-old cousin in January.
This happened after the boy had raped an eight-month-old baby the day before in Nadi.
In another incident, two children aged 10 and seven were suspects in a case involving a sexual attack on a three-year-old in Vatukoula.
Shamima Ali urged parents and guardians to be mindful that Fiji had laws which made it illegal for children and infants to be left in the care of any person under the age of 18 years.
In the face of these reports, we must ask ourselves what are we doing about child sexual abuse?
What are we doing to understand the triggers for such behaviour?
It is despicable and should be a major concern for us all.
While organisations like the FWCC and Save the Children Fiji are already focused on critical areas they feel need to be addressed, what will matter is how the rest of us respond to such news.
We have been reminded many times about stats on the issue of child sexual abuse.
We know a lot of the perpetrators were family members, people the victims knew.
We should be talking about triggers, and what we can do to fight this issue.
We need to understand and appreciate the need for our children to be able to grow up in an environment that is safe and instils confidence and a sense of security in them.
We should be providing an environment that is conducive to a healthy child growing up feeling safe and secure.
And that means placing value on relationships, and family.
It means responsibility and commitment.
Let’s empower our children, love them and give them the attention and guidance they need to reach their full potential.
We have said this before, that we should be a nation dedicated to protecting children from all forms of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.
Our children need to understand and value relationships, and the rights of others.
Let’s keep our children safe!
