THE HONOURABLE MINISTER FOR YOUTH AND SPORTS
MR LAISENIA TUITUBOU
Address at the Human Rights and Gender Based Violence against Women and Children Training for Eastern Division Youths at Southern Cross Hotel on Friday 17 March 2017 at 12.00pm.
• Representatives of UNICEF, our partners in this workshop;
• The Coordinator of the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre;
• Invited guests, stakeholders and government officials;
• Ladies and Gentlemen
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Ni sa bula vinaka, Noeia e Mauri, Namaste and good afternoon to you all.
I am delighted to address you at the closing of this workshop which is focused on a matter that should take precedence in all corners of our society: Human Rights and Combatting Violence against Women and Children.
I hope that the objectives of this workshop have been achieved and that you recognize the root cause of violence against women, girls and children; you understand violence against women, girls and children; you understand gender power relations and the link to violence against women and children and you are able to develop strategies to promote gender equality.
Together, we must address one of the most pervasive violations of human rights in the world, one of the least prosecuted crimes, and one of the greatest threats to lasting peace and development – violence against women and children. This workshop is well-timed for our youths from the Eastern Division, who have travelled from some of the most of the remote areas of Fiji, all of whom have joined this workshop to advance human rights. It is a sad fact that much of the violence against women and children takes place in the Eastern Division and I hope that you will now join the fight against such violence with the tools and knowledge you have gained here.
Our Honourable Prime Minister said last year and I quote:
“Every case of rape and domestic violence that is tried in our courts represents a failure—a failure to stem this terrible problem in our society, a failure to change attitudes and behaviours, a failure to protect women…
“This problem will only be resolved by changing our culture. It is a fact that violence against women represents what I like to call the ugly underbelly of our culture. We all know it. It has been with us for a long time, and it weakens us like an infected wound—slowly and progressively. Although as a society we surely lament it, I believe we have also tolerated it…
“We must teach candidly against all forms of violence toward women and children. We must teach it in our places of worship, in our schools, and in our communities. We must insist on a culture of equality and respect for women that encompasses the home, the workplace, the government, and the street…”
He also said at the World Humanitarian Summit last year: “There is no justification, no excuse, for any man to inflict violence on a woman or abuse her in any way”.
Recently the Prime Minister said: “Men who beat women are cowards and criminals”.
His statements are very clear and it is up to us to look closely at ourselves and what we are doing to take a stand against violence against our women, children and vulnerable people. It is a crime. And it must be reported to the Police. Because if it is not, violence will continue and it will be a norm rather than a very sad and unacceptable exception. It calls into question our integrity, values, credibility, ethics and respect for one another.
I trust that your Action Plans and Resolutions are practical and not just ink on paper. I hope you have committed yourselves to implement everything you have learnt during this workshop. I am optimistic that you have laid a solid foundation to address gender based violence.
The time for complacency is long gone. The silence on violence has been broken. Now is the time for stronger action and I firmly believe that workshops such as this contribute as we work to curb the high rate of violence against women and children in Fiji.
We need the cooperation of all partners, public and private sectors and more collaboration on an inter-agency level to ensure that the statistics on gender based violence in the country disappear. We need to ensure that all our brothers and sisters are able to live in safety – nothing more and nothing less.
I applaud the work of all our partners to raise awareness of this issue so that the long-standing indifference to violence against women and children stops right here and right now.
I declare the Human Rights and Gender Based Violence Against Women and Children closed and I trust that you will all return to your homes and share what you have learned here with your peers, neighbours and elders. I trust that you will play your part in ensuring women and children are able to live in safety – a right enshrined in our Constitution.
Vinaka vakalevu.