Cakaudrove And Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre Join

SUVA (17 Nov 2011) – The executive head of the Cakaudrove Provincial Council made firm commitments that he and the province will be a permanent friend of the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and supporter standing against violence against women. In addition, the Roko Tui Cakaudrove, Ro Aca Mataitini has supported moves by the FWCC and the people of Cakaudrove to set up a Women’s Crisis Centre in Savusavu.

Speaking at the FWCC National Network Meeting on the Elimination of Violence Against Women in Suva this morning, Ro Aca Mataitini spoke of the strategies of their provincial council to prevent violence against women.

“Women should not be considered as slaves or trash – in fact there should be no boundaries for them. In Cakaudrove, we have one woman who has been made turaga-ni-koro (village headwoman) and she is doing well,” said Ro Aca.

The Cakaudrove province has been proactive in organising workshops and awareness raising sessions at tikina (district) and village level. Highlighting some of the cases that have been reported in the province, Ro Aca said this was of grave concern for them. He also highlighted that no one is exempt as a perpetrator.

“We have seen where the vanua (land, people and custom), the lotu (church) and the matanitu (government) have been involved as perpetrators and these are supposed to be the protectors of the people.

“We have now taken on an aggressive campaign that is geared towards the empowerment of women,” said Ro Aca. The approach is also about recognising women’s contribution to the development of their communities through their hard work and therefore the importance of their inclusion in decision making.

The Cakaudrove Provincial Council has mapped out its programme with various stakeholders like the Labasa Women’s Crisis Centre, Police Force and Department of Social Welfare.

Future work with the FWCC will include more awareness and workshops at village and district level, including more training targeted at men’s involvement and with plans to set up a Savusavu Women’s Crisis Centre for the province of Cakaudrove in 2012.

The FWCC and its branches are funded by Australian AID and the New Zealand Aid Programme.

ENDS

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