On November 1, the Fiji media reported that a man had been charged with murder after allegedly brutally beating his wife, later resulting in her death in Nadi.
That the couple’s children allegedly witnessed the abuse compounded the seriousness of the issue.
This alleged incident was not an isolated one.
Fijian children are exposed to violence on a daily basis.
This is supported by the Violence against Children in Fiji Scoping Study launched at the University of the South Pacific in Suva on September 26, 2023.
The report showed that between 2017 to 2019, four out of five children experienced violence, abuse, or neglect.
In doing so it made public our worst kept secret that child abuse is most common amongst iTaukei communities, as nearly three-quarters of the abused children were iTaukei.
The high incidence of child abuse among iTaukei warrants a deeper discussion.
Doing this includes dismantling the taboo nature of the topic, critically engaging with cultural enablers and practices like bulubulu and investing in research that explores the relationship between culture and child abuse including its prevention and reduction.
iTaukei culture and its interactions
Contemporary iTaukei culture is premised on the interface that include but are not limited to government bureaucratic systems and religion.
These factors permeate iTaukei perceptions, belief, behaviour, and action — basically all things in iTaukei life.
A point of tension, however, are the challenges of collectivist and individualist values and practices inherent within this reality.
iTaukei culture is collectivist in nature.
It is committed to the group interest and practice mutual protection through interdependence and relational ties.
Other characteristics include communal responsibility, group harmony, shared goals, unquestioned influence of elders and authority, and conformity.
Our bureaucracy including the child protection system draws on a Western, individualistic approach.
They favour the interest of the individual over the group and place an importance on individual protection by emphasising personal rights and freedom.
Characteristics of the individualist culture include personal autonomy, individual goals and achievements, self-expression, privacy, and freedom of choice.
Christianity, the dominant religion in Fiji, is collectivist in nature.
It is guided by the values, perceptions, and beliefs of followers, who conform to certain rules and protocols, have communal responsibilities among members, and headed by an entrusted authority.
However, Christianity is more recognisable in individualist Western societies, as one of the main pillars of modernisation.
Christianity shaped ethics and morality in Western governance around human dignity and rights and personal freedom.
These have heavily influenced contemporary Fijian governance practices and approaches.
The close relationship between culture and religion for iTaukei means that at times, rules, roles, practices, and processes are used interchangeably without full knowledge and understanding of their guiding values, functions and needs.
Substitution or misuse of these elements could be counterproductive, resulting in a breakdown where their intended functions and objectives fail or are not fully met.
Furthermore, this dominant discourse can silence and push out other less influential viewpoints.
This leads to misguided condemnation of factors deemed as less important.
Their infringement is often ignored and met with a lack of concern and interest.
In Fiji’s case, this may be true to some extent with the iTaukei culture and world view, where it is seen or believed (even among some iTaukei) to be inferior to more ‘enlightened’ Western and religious viewpoints.
I draw on a few examples to illustrate the points above.
Negative interactions
The bulubulu custom is a collectivist iTaukei practice, used for social reconciliation and conflict resolution.
It is meant to keep communal harmony and peace between families and communal groups.
It has been inappropriately used at times within the individualist Child Protection System and Justice System to reconcile with the victim and pass judgement on the perpetrator.
This results in collectivist iTaukei village laws and cultural protocols clashing with individualist government legislation and processes.
Religion, mostly through overzealous biblical justification of forgiveness and mercy, is used to covertly force the use and acceptance of the bulubulu custom.
Victims and parents feel morally obligated to ‘forgive and forget’.
They are overwhelmed into compliance by their religious leaders and fellow members to drop the case after performing the bulubulu custom.
Another example is iTaukei male hegemony and social hierarchy that form the basis of collectivist iTaukei traditional leadership.
This is reinforced by extreme and literal understanding of biblical teachings.
These include patriarchal references to authority and justification of physical violence to impart discipline.
These collectivist cultural and religious hierarchical leadership practices and roles often clash with today’s individualist egalitarian system which strive for individual equality, personal freedom, and nondiscrimination.
Positive interactions
On the other hand, similarities among systems, culture and religion could be harnessed to benefit child abuse prevention and response among iTaukei, especially when their value systems and ethics align.
As an example, the goals and functions of the Child Protection System aligns ideally with iTaukei communal ethics of veimaroroi (protection) and veiwekani (kinship).
These are common features of responsibility towards close kin and family in Pacific cultures.
System’s protection and care are also in line with religious values of care, compassion, and love for others.
In fact, Christianity takes it a step further beyond close kin to selfsacrificing love and compassion to all, including one’s enemies.
Another positive example that favours the Child Protection System is the need for leadership that ensures justice, empathy, and understanding.
For the iTaukei culture, the communal values and characteristics of vakaturaga spring to mind.
These include the role of dauveitaqomaki (protector) and ethos of veilomani (affection), veikauwaitaki (care), and vakarorogo (attentiveness).
In the Christian religion, relevant biblical leadership qualities like humility, accountability, wisdom, and being a servant leader are aspects that reinforce collectivist iTaukei vakaturaga leadership and enable child protection.
Way forward
The scoping study report will enable us to plan responses where help is most needed.
We will also be able to make better use of limited resources that are allocated for this enormous task.
Further work is needed to explore and understand the relationships between the child protection system, iTaukei culture and religion, to drive collaborative and holistic policies, strategies, and practices.
The above discussions hint upon several areas for the way forward.
First, map out within system, culture and religion, original functions and objectives of practices, processes, and roles that impact child abuse among iTaukei.
Second, identify connected entities that either facilitate or impede child abuse prevention and response.
Third, pilot and assess interrelated practices and processes that facilitate child abuse prevention and response, and work out how they could be further strengthened and enhanced.
Fourth, modify cultural practices, processes and roles that hinder child protection work.
This could incorporate more legal accountability, better documentation, improved standardisation, and a victim-centered focus.
These could borrow from restorative justice models that are currently being used in child protection circles in Aotearoa New Zealand Maori and within Australian Aboriginal communities.
Finally, there is a need for more collaboration and co-ordination between the child protection system, Christian religious institutions and iTaukei establishments.
This alliance forms the framework and basis to drive the information need and implement resulting evidence-based strategies and programs that are more holistic and multisectoral.
It also ensures a locally owned child protection system that is more costeffective and relevant to the needs of Fiji.
This demonstrates protecting our children is everyone’s business.
• DR ADRIU NADUVA is a medical doctor with public health specialisation. He is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Otago. The views expressed in this article does not necessarily reflect the views of this newspaper.
