Ban on public flogging in Fiji welcomed

Transcript

New by-laws being introduced in Fiji to combat public flogging in some iTaukei villages has been welcomed by the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre.

The centre's coordinator, Shamima Ali, says the by-laws were introduced in the colonial era to allow village chiefs to preserve customs and traditions.

But she told Koroi Hawkins that some remote villages have exploited the bylaws, and have taken to public flogging as a way to restrict women's rights.

SHAMIMA ALI: These are complaints that we have received a couple of years ago and every now and then we hear that some of the villages are creating their own laws. Particularly restricting women's movements their dressing and so on. By-laws are laws that, these are village laws that have been existent for a very long time. But it is about minor offences within the village system  and so on which people then preside over the village committee and so on and there are you know, rules and regulations. But what has happened is that people have taken the law into their own hands so to speak and started expanding the by-laws to include restrictions on women's dressing etc. And controlling their behaviour sort of thing so it is not part of. Part of government, it is not something that has been approved by government but people are doing it here and there in various communities and particularly the remoter the community the more of these things happen.

KOROI HAWKINS: Right and the laws being talked about particularly are public flogging now that seems quite extreme what kind of situation would that be used in?

SA: We had a couple of stories on that one and it is about women drinking Kava and there is a time-limit by nine you have to be back home and not to go beyond that. But women, young women drinking Kava with the guys and then going beyond the ten o clock time restriction. So the allegedly, well we had complaints, people come and complain to us, you know, young girls their daughters being flogged publicly on the village green with a traditional whip that is made of coconut fibre.

KH: As you say these often happen in the more remote or rural areas. Anything that the government says does it actually have an effect, will it actually be observed? Lets say if a village chooses to continue to have public flogging how will that be enforced?

SA: Well I think government will have a say in that and we will be looking out for reports. But I think also the provincial council will be working closely with government to ensure that those by-laws are in keeping with village traditions and so on. But not violating human rights I don't think that government will let things go past like flogging and restricting women's hairstyles or you know restricting women's movement and clothing and things like that.

Shamima Ali says although the practice is not common and does not have government sanction, it's good to see the government cracking down on it.