An interesting development is now being seen as this year more women who have been victims of domestic violence have reported their cases to the Police than the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre.
In the past the cases reported to the Police were always lower than the cases received by the Crisis Centre.
Coordinator of the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre, Shamima Ali said this is a positive development as it shows more women have confidence in the Police officers that they will do the right thing.
Ali also said everyone should work together to report cases of domestic violence, and the mentality of it being a domestic issue, should change.
She said the new Domestic Violence Decree empowers everyone to take action to protect the victims.
Ali said domestic violence should be seen as a human rights violation and all the stakeholders should be on the same page to ensure that appropriate action is taken.
She also said people should also be mindful of the fact that women who live further from towns and cities, have less access to law enforcement agencies.
Story by: Vijay Narayan
