A DOMESTIC violence survivor’s experience where her arm was dislocated and she was threatened with a chopper against reporting the matter to police was nothing short of “horrifying”.
This was shared by West-based human rights lawyer Sabrina Khan-Sharma to participants at a domestic violence forum in Lautoka recently.
She said the numerous stories she has heard over the past few years had set her on a mission to educate, empower and uplift the community towards understanding how domestic violence impacted on Fijian society.
“As this violent pandemic against women and girls increases, so too must our awareness campaigns to help them survive,” Ms Khan-Sharma said.
Hosting the Lautoka session, community members and stakeholders learned about the forms of domestic violence, myths and truths, emergency avenues available and more.
She said one of the topics studied was trauma bonding which looked at a victim’s unhealthy attachment to the perpetrator.
“Participants learned to better their understanding by looking for signs and symptoms of a person suffering from domestic violence which includes anxiety, depression and low self-esteem.”
About 72 per cent of all Fijian women had faced some form of violence in their lifetime, 64 per cent in intimate relationships had experienced physical or sexual violence from their partners, including 61 per cent who were physically attacked and 34 per cent who were sexually abused.
