The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) has raised alarm over the significant underrepresentation of women in Fiji’s political and public spheres.
In its latest findings on Fiji published on Monday, CEDAW is urging the Fiji government to implement robust measures to address persistent gender disparities.
CEDAW highlighted the lack of women in decision-making roles across Parliament, senior government positions, local governance, the judiciary, public service, foreign service, Fiji Police Force, military, academia, international organizations, and traditional iTaukei community leadership structures.
“Fiji should adopt quotas and targeted campaign financing to increase women’s representation in Parliament, government, judiciary, public and foreign services, police, military, academia, international organizations, and traditional iTaukei leadership, particularly at decision-making levels,” said CEDAW.
“The State should require political parties to ensure equal numbers of women and men on candidate lists for national and local elections, with equal ranking, and impose fines for non-compliance.”
“Fiji must implement measures to shield women politicians and candidates from sexism, fake news, revenge porn, and gendered hate speech, including online harassment.”
“This includes mandating political parties to adopt regulations against misogynistic behaviour and holding social media platforms accountable for sexist content, while providing victims with effective redress.”
Read more details on CEDAW’s findings in The Fiji Times today.
