FIJIFIJIAccording to statistics from UNICEF on violence in the family, in 2005-2006 seventy-two per cent of children aged 2-14 years old experienced violent discipline (physical punishment and/or psychological aggression).
(UNICEF, 2011, The State of the World’s Children, Table 9: Child Protection, www.unicef.org/sowc, NY: UNICEF)
Large scale comparative research into the views and experiences of 3,322 children and 1,000 adults in 8 countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific (Cambodia, Fiji, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Mongolia, Philippines, Republic of Korea and Viet Nam) was carried out by Save the Children in 2005. The research in Fiji involved 536 children (244 boys, 292 girls) aged 10-17 years from urban, semi-urban and rural areas, and 101 adults (49 men and 52 women, teachers in the schools and members of four community settlements in the Central Division). The research team led 51 sessions with the children, boys and girls separately, split into two age groups – 10-13 years and 14-17 years. Methods used included research diaries, drawings, body maps, attitude survey, sentence completion, and discussions. Most punishments experienced by children were direct assaults, more frequently for younger children, including being beaten, hit, slapped or lashed, smacked, whacked, given a hiding, spanked, punched, “donged” (on the head) and pinched. Nine out of ten boys aged 10-13 years and almost eight out of ten aged 14-17 years reported the use of physical punishments; 71% of girls in both age groups reported this. More punishment was administered by immediate family members (parents 48%) than by teachers (45%); for all girls and younger boys, most punishments were experienced in the home; for older boys the majority of punishment happened at school. Reasons for punishment included disobedience, unsatisfactory academic performance and misbehaviour. In response to the statement “After I punish a child I feel unhappy”, 38% of adults disagreed, 57% agreed, and 5% had no opinion.
(Save the Children, 2006, The Physical and Emotional Punishment of Children in Fiji: A research report, Suva, Save the Children Fiji. See also Beazley, H., S. Bessell, et al., 2006, What Children Say: Results of comparative research on the physical and emotional punishment of children in Southeast Asia and Pacific, 2005, Stockholm, Save the Children Sweden)
Interviews with parents and teachers conducted for Pacific Children’s Program by a team from the University of South Pacific found that corporal punishment of children is administered by parents, guardians and elders and takes many forms, including beating or using a belt or rod; hitting and punching the head with the hand or an object; inserting fingers down a child’s mouth until the child gags; tying a child up in a sack and hanging from a tree; and whipping with a stick or rope.
(Vakoati, P. & Finekaso, G., 2002, Qualitative Study on Child Protection Practices: Fiji Report, University of South Pacific, Report prepared for International Development Support Services, Pacific Children’s Program)