Proposals to establish a “Men’s Department” Misunderstands Gender Inequality and Undermines Women’s Rights

2 Dec, 2025

Suva, Fiji — The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre (FWCC) says recent calls for the creation of a “Men’s Department” show a fundamental misunderstanding of gender inequality and the purpose of Fiji’s existing gender machinery.

FWCC stresses that the women’s ministry and the national women’s machinery exists to correct historic and ongoing inequality — not to give women special treatment.

“Women have been structurally excluded for generations — in law, politics, economic life and national decision-making. That is the meaning of gender inequality,” said FWCC Coordinator Shamima Ali.

“Proposing a ‘Men’s Department’ recentres male privilege in a system where men already dominate parliament, cabinet, business, policing, defence and religious leadership.”

FWCC warns that establishing a men-specific department would:

Reduces already scarce resources needed for violence prevention and survivor support.
Create a false equivalence between men’s challenges and women’s systemic discrimination.
Undermine decades of feminist organising that made women visible in national policy.
Confuse the public about what gender inequality actually means.

“Women’s rights work remains severely underfunded. Redirecting resources to a ‘Men’s Department’ would undermine hard-won progress,” Ms Ali said.

FWCC acknowledges that men face real issues, including mental health struggles and pressure from harmful masculine norms.

But these require strengthening existing ministries, not building a new one.

“We support work with men and boys — but the solution lies in transforming harmful masculinities and improving mental-health, youth and social-service systems,” said Ms Ali. “Not in creating a parallel ministry based on a false narrative of equal disadvantage.”

“Women’s ministries exist because the imbalance is real. Any proposal that ignores this is not serious about human rights or evidence,” Ms Ali said.

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Email: fwcc.shamima@gmail.com
Website: fijiwomen.com