Fiji

FIJI Post-Disaster Needs Assessment
One aspect that effectively limits and slows women’s post-disaster recovery and economic growth is time poverty, which
can perpetuate gender inequalities, where women burdened by domestic work lag behind men who have more time to
engage in other income-generating activities and, thereby, recover more quickly. According to the 2010-2011 EUS, women
and girls spend 23 hours per week on reproductive work, 15 hours more than men. As noted below, women are spending a
longer time securing water and doing laundry, and a combination of reduced agriculture yields and cessation of food rations
will increase the time necessary for gleaning food. While ensuring that women actively participate in community recovery
programmes is important, such engagement should consider gender disparities in time use and the unequal distribution of
unpaid work between women and men and, therefore, avoid increasing women’s burden of further work. To enable women
to participate in recovery and reconstruction programmes, the provision of childcare will be essential.
Impact on Infrastructure and Physical Assets
The largest impact of the damage to infrastructure has been changes in time use by women and girls, especially in areas
that still continue to experience electricity and water supply cuts, which have increased the time necessary for fetching
clean water and doing laundry. For example, a high prevalence of washing machines 122 in urban and rural areas has meant
that power cuts increased laundry time from half an hour to three hours per week. In addition, time and labour expended in
meeting water household needs has increased from zero to three hours a week. The disruptions have curtailed the ability of
women and girls to engage in other productive and income-generating activities, since access to electricity affords women
the opportunity for social and economic advancement, and provides mechanical power for agricultural food processing,
cooking, lighting, refrigeration, communications and commercial enterprises, while minimising the time spent on domestic
work. Disruptions in electricity supply have, therefore, undermined women’s ability to derive electricity-dependent livelihoods
(e.g., virgin coconut oil production). Less obvious, perhaps, is the impact of electricity on women’s and girls’ safety and
sense of security, 123 since lighting is a deterrent of violence and its absence puts women at a heightened risk. Thus, speedy
electricity restoration is essential for the return of power-dependent livelihoods and women’s safety.
Protection Issues 124
Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV): Violence against women in Fiji is alarmingly high, with 72 percent of everpartnered
women experiencing physical, sexual or emotional violence at some point. 125 Intimate partner violence against
women imposes a high burden of injury on women and the economy. Each day, approximately, 43 women are injured, 16
are injured badly enough to need health care and one is permanently disabled. 126 While data on gender-based violence
in the context of TC Winston is limited, we know from previous emergencies, including the 2012 Fiji floods, that sexual
violence against women and girls was reported in evacuation centres and domestic violence increased due to the additional
stress during crisis. Reports from the field indicate women feeling unsafe in some locations, including evacuation centres,
and an increase in the use and abuse of alcohol by men as a coping mechanism, putting women and children at further risk
of harm. Some women have reported feeling scared to sleep at night, and have reported increasing sexual harassment. 127
Similar to other disasters in Fiji, there are increased reports of domestic violence, in particular to the Fiji Women Crisis
Centre. Violence, exploitation and abuse of children are heightened risks as community protection mechanisms are
disrupted and populations are displaced and under distress. This is further exacerbated by extensive destruction of homes,
which may leave women and girls living with relatives and extended families or living in unsecured homes. Female-headed
households may be at a greater risk due to lack of male protection. Furthermore, reduced availability of food and a decline
in living conditions both increase affected populations’ exposure to sexual exploitation and abuse, including engagement in
negative coping mechanisms in order to survive. For example, women and girls have already reported requests from men
for sexual favors in exchange for food and other supplies.
Recovery interventions should increase access to reproductive health care, scale up the presence of specific services,
including clinical care for physical and sexual assault, and actively seek women’s views on how to improve safety and
security in affected communities. Strengthened grievance and referral systems and support from national actors on SGBV
to support victims of violence is also needed. In the short term, the scaled-up presence of police patrols and additional
security measures, such as emergency lighting in order to safeguard affected communities and mitigate the risks of SGBV,
are needed. In the medium to long term, review and reform of the legal process for reporting and responding to rape
and gender-based violence in order to make it more accessible to women and girls may be required. Training of law
enforcement on SGBV prevention and response and how to treat SGBV cases seriously and sensitively is essential.
122
Based on the same 51 percent increase change between 2002 (15 percent) and 2008 (31 percent), we can assume that washing machine
prevalence at the household level in now 70 percent..
123
Fiji Gender Based Violence Sub-Cluster Key Advocacy Note: April 9, 2016.
124
No information was available on issues related to sexual orientation and ethnicity. Issues faced by the elderly population are covered in
the ELSP Chapter.
125
Fiji Women Crisis Centre 2013: Women’s Health and Domestic Violence Against Women Study.
126
“Someone’s Life, Everybody’s Business.” National Research on Women’s Health and Life Experiences in Fiji (2010/2011): A survey
exploring the prevalence, incidence and attitudes to intimate partner violence in Fiji. Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre.
127
Fiji Gender Based Violence Sub-Cluster Key Advocacy Note: April 9, 2016.
Tropical Cyclone Winston, February 20, 2016
103