28 Jan 2015

Violence no way to parent - Fiji NGO

1:42 pm on 28 January 2015

Save the Children Fiji is calling for more resources to help parents raise their children without violence.

The organisation's CEO Raijeli Nicole, says child abuse is an ongoing and prevalent issue in Fiji despite laws banning corporal punishment in schools.

She says hitting a child is always unacceptable and making the shift from policy into practice, is where the work needs to happen.

Raijeli Nicole says parenting programmes are a fairly new idea in Fiji but parents need to learn how to talk with their children rather than hitting them.

"Parenting is challenging and we recognise that there are many demands but that does not make it okay for children to be at the receiving end of their frustrations."

Raijeli Nicole says culture should not be used to excuse bad behaviour and more people need to speak up and intervene when they witness violence.