Twenty-nine children under the age of five were sexually assaulted last year.
These infants are included in the 63 per cent of all sexual offences last year that involved children.
“That was a total of 755 cases of sexual violence against children,” Minister for Women, Children and Social Protection Sashi Kiran told Parliament yesterday.
“In 2022 it was 70 per cent with 34 infants.”
She said children represented the largest victim category of all sexual offences reported to the Fiji Police Force each year.
“Last year alone, the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Protection received 1977 child welfare cases through the Child Helpline and our partner service providers,” Ms Kiran said.
“Alarmingly, 62 per cent of these cases were linked to neglect, physical abuse and sexual abuse.”
Ms Kiran said evidence from the Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey (MICS), conducted by Fiji Bureau of Statistics with support from UNICEF, showed that 80 per cent of children aged 1–14 had experienced some form of violent discipline in the past month.
“The same data shows that 1 in 5 Fijian children suffered severe physical punishment — such as being hit in the face or head, or being subjected to repeated beatings.
“This is happening in all of Fiji, with 84 per cent of children in rural areas and 76 per cent in urban ones experiencing corporal punishment in the home.
“The Violence Against Children in Fiji Scoping Study, carried out by our ministry, USP, FNU, and supported by UNICEF, paints a similar picture, with child abuse and neglect common across Fijian society.”
She said that each of these statistics represented a real, innocent Fijian child enduring harm in the very places where they should feel safest.”
