Protecting Children Is a Shared Responsibility

28 Jul, 2026

The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre (FWCC) welcomes the increased public attention being given to the urgent issue of child abuse and the need to strengthen child protection efforts throughout Fiji. However, the Centre is concerned by the framing of the issue in a recent Fijivillage story headlined “Women urged to lead the fight against child abuse,” following comments by the Minister for Women, Children and Social Protection, Sashi Kiran.

The FWCC believes this reinforces the harmful assumption that protecting and looking after children is primarily a woman’s responsibility. We cannot continue to place the responsibility of childcare or ending child abuse on women alone. This is a collective responsibility, and our responses must reflect the realities and challenges women face everyday.

Child abuse is not a “women’s issue” but a societal issue that requires the active involvement and accountability of fathers, men, families, communities, institutions, faith leaders, educators, service providers and government agencies.

When headlines suggest that women should lead the fight against child abuse, they are reinforcing the idea that women alone are responsible for keeping children safe. The responsibility for protecting children belongs to all of us.

Women already carry a heavy burden of unpaid care work and family responsibilities. We should not expect them to fight child abuse alone, especially when perpetrators are often people known and trusted by the child.

The FWCC emphasises that violence against children cannot be addressed in isolation.

The reality is that violence against children exists within broader systems of gender inequality and patriarchy. It does not exist in a vacuum. We cannot end child abuse without also addressing violence against women, harmful gender norms, and the culture of silence that protects perpetrators.

The Centre stresses the critical responsibility of governments and institutions to ensure that child protection systems are accessible, adequately resourced, and responsive to the needs of survivors. Meaningful change requires a whole-of-society approach backed by political commitment and sustained investment in prevention and support services.

The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre has been working with children since 1984. This statement is informed by more than four decades of collective experience supporting women and children affected by violence and advocating for systemic change.

This statement is to be only attributed to the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre. 

For more information email: comms@fijiwomen.com