1,041 cases of crime against children has been recorded from January to October this year.
This is a decrease of 0.1 percent compared to last year with 1,042 cases.
This was revealed by the Commissioner of Police, Sitiveni Qiliho in a statement as the country is campaigning for the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.
Qiliho says female victims aged 13 to 17 years old make up to 41 percent of the total rape cases that were reported during the same period this year.
He says even though there has been a decrease in the overall crimes against children, there are some offences that have recorded an increase from 2015 and 2016 and these include assault causing actual bodily harm and rape.
He also revealed that there is a decrease of 2.5 percent in overall crime against women from January to October this year.
The Police Commissioner says while they have recorded a decrease in overall crimes against women and children, it does not take away the unfortunate reality that the offences continue to be recorded.
He highlights that there are still many incidents that remain unreported.
He says that we need to work together because there are institutions within our society that will have more frequent access to an individual’s personal life than the police or government will ever have.
Qiliho says the Fiji Police Force continues to do all it can to address gender-based violence.
