“No amount of money will reduce domestic violence cases in Fiji.”
This was shared by Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre (FWCC) co-ordinator Shamima Ali, who called for a national shift in mindset rather than relying solely on funding to address gender-based violence.
This comes as the FWCC recorded 236 new domestic violence cases in the first three months of this year.
Responding to questions about the tangible impact of millions of dollars invested in gender equality programs, Ms Ali emphasised that lasting change requires confronting the root cause of violence — patriarchy.
“Look, we need funds to do this work,” Ms Ali said.
“But no amount of money is going to bring about a change if we don’t change our mindsets.”
She said patriarchy, along with gender inequality, power imbalances, male entitlement, and toxic masculinity remains at the heart of violence against women and children.
“There’s only one cause of violence against women and girls and children, and that is patriarchy.
“Everything that comes with it, gender inequality, power relations, all those things come out of it.”
Ms Ali acknowledged that the government’s national prevention plan recognises patriarchy as the underlying cause of violence but questioned whether this stance is consistently upheld across all sectors.
“When you start unravelling patriarchy, it becomes very intimidating for people who enjoy the privileges of patriarchy… people who can get away with being misogynists, who beat up their wives, rape women and children.”
She also criticised recent government efforts to create safe spaces for men, pointing out that women in Fiji still lacked basic services such as shelters and refuge centres.
“For goodness’ sake, we don’t even have refuges for women. What is it telling our women?”
Ms Ali warned against excusing or justifying men’s violence by attributing it to stress or trauma, saying this undermines accountability and reinforces harmful norms.
“That’s what I’m saying, no amount of money will do that unless we all get onto the same page and recognise what women are going through.”
