Fiji Women's Crisis Centre

Marriage is not a licence to control women's bodies says Fiji's women's group.

The group has criticised recent discussions during a consultation with the Minister for Health and Medical Services by concerned men about their wives and partners using contraceptives without their consent.

The Fiji Women's Rights Movement said women are not the property of their husbands.

It's encouraging family planning and as well as counselling.

Fiji has one of the highest rates of gender-based violence in the world, with more than 60-percent of Fijian women experiencing violence at least once in their lifetime.

     

Violence against women focus in Fiji for police

The workshop, run by the Australia Federal Police and the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre, will also help them understand gender dynamics as well as laws relating to gender-based violence.

30 police are involved in what is the fourth Regional Police Training Program to be held since 2014.

The co-ordinator of the Crisis Centre, Shamima Ali, said with the high rates of violence against women in the Pacific, it is vital that officers understand its dynamics and how perpetrators operate, so they are better able to respond.