Police have been accused of covering up cases of domestic violence by encouraging men to counter charge.
Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre coordinator Shamima Ali said this while talking about the lack of sensitivity shown by police towards women who lodge complaints.
In response, Vani Rogoimuri, a senior investigator in the sexual offence unit of the Fiji Police Force, called for urgent and comprehensive domestic violence training for new police officers, as they may lack the necessary knowledge and sensitivity to handle such cases effectively.
Her response followed the concerns raised by Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre coordinator Shamima Ali regarding the lack of sensitivity shown towards people, especially women, who have gone to lodge their complaints.
Ms Ali claimed that for many years, police had covered up many cases of domestic violence by encouraging men to counter charge.
“The cover up by police officers could be happening, but for us at the Nakasi Police Station we have been talking during our lectures, informing them that once domestic violence cases come in, they have to deal with the report with importance,” Ms Rogoimuri said
“New officers on the ground who are based at the stations need training on how to respond to domestic violence cases.
“If that kind of training can be taken into the recruitment drive, people can be well versed with domestic violence when they walk out of recruitment.
“For the old officers, we have attended a lot of workshops that’s been done by FWCCC which was very helpful to us but for new officers, yes, we need training for them.”
