Fiji’s Emerging Leaders Forum Alumni (ELFA) says violence against girls and women is usually under-represented in the media and there is nearly always a lack of public outrage.
“The media through sensitised and adequate coverage has the power to shape societal attitudes and can foster greater public dialogue and greater public responsibility,” said the group.
“Violence against the girls and women is not a women’s issue but a humanitarian issue that each and every one of us should be rising against.”
The group has joined the One Billion Rising global campaign to refuse to participate in the status quo until rape and the rape culture ends.
The alumni said sexual assault, domestic violence, street and sexual harassment at work were just some of the forms of violence that girls and women continue to be subjected to daily.
They also said the recent gang rape in Savusavu was a reflection of the culture that is prevalent in Fiji in which girls and women are subjected to some form of violence daily.
Fiji’s Emerging Leaders Forum Alumni is a group of 82 young women aged 18-35 years who graduated from the young women in leadership programme of the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement (FWRM) held in five groups over a period of six years.
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