THE quality of police response to domestic violence in Fiji has declined in recent years, according to Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre legal manager Miliana Tarai.
She told the multi-stakeholder roundtable on Critical Human Rights Challenges this could be attributed to the absence of proper gender and human rights training for police officers.
She said current training programs were insufficient, leaving officers ill-equipped to handle sensitive cases involving violence against women.
“We have a recommendation that police officers need to undergo gender training before they go for human rights training,” Ms Tarai said.
“You have to first gender-sensitise them. Once they understand the link, then they are able to be receptive and understand human rights.”
Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu has urged such organisations and members of the public to report these allegations.
“I am urging members of the public to lodge reports so that investigations can be conducted,” he said.
“If people have sufficient evidence against the officer, report the matter, submit the evidence and let the Internal Affairs conduct their investigation. If there is a criminal component of the complaint, the CID will conduct their line of investigation, parallel to the internal disciplinary investigation.”
Ms Tarai noted that the centre previously ran comprehensive three to five-day training sessions for police officers, which significantly improved their handling of gender-based violence cases. However, those programs were discontinued.
“When that program was stopped, we saw a decline in terms of police response.
“The officers who came out of the earlier training were very good in dealing with domestic violence and violence against women.”
On this, Mr Tudravu said police officers had attended training to handle such matter.
A police forensics officer at the scene where a woman’s body was found inside the house at Nacua Court in Nakasi, Nausori. She is believed to be a victim of domestic violence.
Picture: ELIKI NUKUTABU
A policewoman ducks under the crime scene tape Police detectives and forensics team at the scene where a woman was found dead at Nacua Court in Nakasi, Nausori, on Fri 05 Sept 2025. Picture: ELIKI NUKUTABU
