13 Aug 2012

Parents of Fiji's child sex workers targetted by government

5:53 pm on 13 August 2012

Fiji's interim Minister for Social Welfare says the problem of child sex workers is a major concern, amid reports that some parents are driving the trade.

Dr Jiko Luveni told Fiji Broadcasting Corporation that people should be alert to the problem and report offenders to police.

Among the common offender groups are sex tourists who travel to Fiji and engage in the commercial sexual exploitation of children.

The executive director of the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre, Shamima Ali, says perpetrators of the trade include parents in poorer areas.

"There are these men about who are layabouts and who actually won't go out and get a job, but these are also men who have perpetrated domestic violence in the home where the women and children are totally under his control and he has all the power to do as he likes. So we have that situation but definitely within families and communities who are quite disempowered financially, socially and so on, that's the area that we are seeing."

Shamima Ali.