Domestic violence (DV) is a significant issue in Fiji, as it is in many parts of the world. The country has been grappling with high rates of domestic and gender-based violence for years. New research by Anand Chand (Fiji National University), Maureen Karan (The University of the South Pacific) David Mapuru (The University of the South Pacific) and Unaisi Nabobo-Baba (Fiji National University) sheds more light on the Fiji Police Force’s practice of resolving domestic violence in Fiji. Their study was based on five research questions:
- Whether police officers are aware of the zero-tolerance policy towards DV adopted by the Fiji Police;
- Do officers practise or use this policy when dealing with DV in their day-to-day work;
- Do Fijian police officers consider DV as a serious form of crime and believe that police intervention is the best way to deal with it;
- What method of resolving DV cases is preferred and encouraged by police officers (legal framework or plural solution); and
- What suggestions do police officers have to reduce DV cases in Fiji.
Fiji Police Forces’ acting Commissioner Juki Fond Chew gave permission to undertake research on policing practice in Fiji. Five thousand police officers at 29 police stations across the main island of Viti Levu, where most of Fiji’s population and police officers are based, were given the questions to answer. The ethnic composition of these 500 officers were 70.2 per cent indigenous Fijians (iTaukei), 26.5 per cent Indo-Fijians, and 3.3 per cent belonged to other ethnic groups. This is representative of the ethnic composition of the Force. In terms of gender, 66.7 per cent of the officers surveyed were male and 33.3 per cent were female. This reflects a similar gender composition to the overall police workforce. Regarding years of experience for the 500 officers, 37.3 per cent had 1-3 years of experience, 26.9 per cent had 4-6 years of experience, 7.1 per cent had 7-9 years of experience, and 28.6 per cent had 10 or more years of experience. This indicates that, of those surveyed, the majority had six years or less of work experience in the FPF.
Awareness of zero-tolerance
The first question the researchers asked was: Are police officers aware of the zero-tolerance policy when attending to DV cases? Results shows that a very high majority (89.0 per cent) of police officers were aware of the zero-tolerance policy, while 11 per cent were not. It is noteworthy that 11 per cent of officers were not aware of the policy, despite having received training about it by the Fiji Police Academy. Of the 40 officers who said they were not aware of the policy, 23 (58 per cent) were male officers and 17 (42 per cent) were female officers, the research states. In terms of age group, the majority of the officers who were not aware of the zero-tolerance policy were between the ages of 18 and 31.
Implementation of the zero-tolerance policy
The second question the researchers asked was: Do police officers implement the zero-tolerance policy when attending to reports of DV?
Results shows that 29.3 per cent of police officers practised the zero-tolerance policy and the remaining 70.7 per cent officers said that they did not practise it.
“This result is notable because, despite 89 per cent of officers indicating that they were aware of the policy, 70.7 per cent did not practise it when dealing with DV cases. This reveals a mismatch between policy and implementation. Their finding highlights a gap between the zero-tolerance policy adopted by the FPF and its non-enforcement by frontline police officers,” state the researchers.
Further analysis shows that around two-thirds (66.7 per cent) of officers who said “I do not implement the zero-tolerance policy” were male officers, which likely reflects the strong patriarchal views often held by male police officers. Notably, one-third (33.3 per cent) of female officers also indicated they did not implement the zero-tolerance policy. Moreover, in terms of ethnicity, the findings show that a high percentage of indigenous Fijians (iTaukei) police officers encouraged the use of traditional customary methods.
“In terms of age group, the majority of the officers who did not implement the zero-tolerance policy were between the ages of 18 and 31. Instead of practising the zero-tolerance policy, police officers said they encouraged women victims to use traditional customary ways of settling DV cases.”
Traditional or other forms of settling domestic violence case
The authors asked police officers if they encouraged couples to use traditional customary methods to deal with DV. Results shows that 70.7 per cent of officers said they encouraged the use of traditional ways of settling DV disputes, despite knowing that the FPF has a zero-tolerance policy.
“In both indigenous Fijian (iTaukei) and Indo-Fijian cultures, there is a traditional customary system of forgiveness and reconciliation. Indigenous Fijians use bulubulu or soro (sorry for wrongdoing) and Indo-Fijians normally rely upon elderly members of their extended family. “This custom is regressive because it lacks fairness and justice for the wife; there is no punishment to the husband, only shame and fear of gossip from others. Additionally, it prioritises men over women,” the research paper states.
Suggestions by police officers to reduce domestic violence
The final question the researchers asked police officers concerned their views on how to reduce DV cases in Fiji and how to assist the victims. Results shows half (50.2 per cent) of the police officers suggested that more awareness and counselling were required by police officers, village headmen, and religious leaders, to help them understand better and to give them the skills and resources to be able to tell the community that DV is a crime and is not acceptable. Around 22 per cent of officers suggested that they were advised to visit the victims personally, as a clear visual means to warn the offender to stay on track. Another 28.2 per cent of officers had the means to be able to support various helpful approaches, such as social media, toll-free phone number, establishing a community safety centre as a safe place for women to stay in a serious case of violence, providing direct help where the victim’s life is in danger.
“Our analysis shows that, despite Fiji having adopted the zero-tolerance policy, police officers are not all aware of it, and the empirical evidence highlights that a significant percentage of frontline police officers do not implement this policy when dealing with DV cases. Moreover, many police officers do not regard DV as a serious crime, but instead prefer to resolve DV cases using traditional and customary processes,” state researchers. This finding underscores that frontline police officers often ignore the official state law, with many officers encouraging couples to resolve DV via traditional customary methods. In many cases, police officers do not charge offenders, said the researchers.
They said this reveals a gap between the policy of the FPF and the actual practice by frontline police officers.
“This finding reveals that a de facto plural policing strategy is occurring, which is likely to involve both advantages and disadvantages. Our research demonstrates that plural policing is happening in the cases of DV, and that new strategies are required that grapple with this reality to effectively mitigate any risks to women who are victims of DV. To ensure that women victims receive a fair hearing.”
Recommendations by researchers:
- An equal number of women leaders be part of any village committee or community process that seeks to resolve DV cases. “We cannot assume, however, that having women in such meetings will necessarily protect the interests of the woman victim, particularly if the women representatives hold conservative cultural beliefs.”
- Women victims should be heard (given a voice) during any traditional method of resolving DV cases. “In no circumstances should the woman victim be pressured to accept the village committee’s decision if it puts her in danger or if she is uncomfortable with it, regardless of cultural considerations, especially if there is a risk of DV continuing.”
- Female police officers, rather than male officers, should be prioritised in the handling processes of DV cases. “They should be provided with the resources and support to be able to inform the village leaders about the requirements of the law, to increase the community’s understanding that the resolution of the dispute must account for the concerns of the woman victim and her children before a final decision is made.”
- Police officers must be required to follow the standard operating procedures with respect to DV strictly and not leave the approach to DV cases to their own discretion. “To ensure that this is effective across the force, our research findings suggest this will likely require refresher training to be provided by the Fiji Police Academy.”
