The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement have since its inception fought for the rights of women through a feminist perspective. This simply means that we work for the empowerment of women and girls by challenging the underlying inequalities that exist. There is no denying that in Fiji, the Pacific or the rest of the world, women and girls are treated unfairly both in the private sphere (their homes and communities etc.) as well as in the public sphere (schools, workplace, laws, policies etc). While there have been some changes these changes have come very slowly and are only achieved through the hard consistent battles of pushing for a world free of inequalities. We only have to look within our homes, our families and our communities to see the inequalities that exist – it is visible in women’s poverty, in the women that we see on the streets, it is evident in women’s lack of access to education in the girls that we see missing out on an education and it is definitely visible in the violence that is inflicted on women’s bodies in the form of domestic violence, rape and murder.

 For organizations like FWCC and FWRM, we cannot be happy just dealing with individual women and sending them away in the hope that they will not continue to experience further violence and discrimination, we have to challenge the underlying structures and the root causes which force women and girls into this position. This includes working with the community to try and bring about changes in attitudes and behaviour, it includes pushing for better services to respond better to the needs of women and it includes pressuring governments to improve or change laws and policies so that women can be protected and treated fairly.

 As we have consistently done in 1987 and 2000, the FWRM and FWCC continue to speak out against the illegal takeover of government and the deterioration of  rule of law in Fiji. We cannot support a coup just because there are possibilities that the domestic violence laws that we have been calling for for so many may be enacted. We cannot celebrate the appointment of women into positions of power because we don’t believe that these have been achieved through a legitimate legal process. This would mean that we have sacrificed our belief in one thing for our desire to achieve something else.

 Furthermore, for feminist organizations the militarization of state mechanisms goes against what we have been fighting for over the years. Militarism encourages machoism – a trait which is embedded in the unequal treatment of women in our society. The military and guns are symbols of masculinity and these have made its way into our society where they have become acceptable and normalized. Camouflage clothing have become a fashion statement, toy guns are a readily available and acceptable gift for children – in particular boy children and militarism is associated with heroism and patriotism – these contribute to a society which looks up to and glorifies the military without looking at the negative impact which have seeped into our society.

 International Women’s Day began out of movements for women’s human rights and as women’s human rights organizations we continue with this struggle for a society which respects women as equal citizens; one which is free of violence and discrimination and one which upholds the rights of all its citizens through the rule of law and democracy. When we fight for human rights we fight for the human rights of everyone – women, men and children.