Fun Fast Facts:
Updated: 14 Apr 2014 (Women find their voice)
- In 1997, Fiji became the second country in the world to explicitly protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation in its constitution.
- In 2009, the constitution was abolished. The new constitution, promulgated in September 2013, bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression although definitions supporting it are weak.
- Since 1 February 2010, private, adult, consensual and non-commercial male and female homosexual conduct is legal under the Crimes Decree 2010.
- Discrimination in employment based on sexual orientation is illegal under Fijian law.
- Fiji family laws does not provide legal recognition of same-sex marriage or civil unions. Since 2002, the law expressly bans same-sex marriage.
- Social mores regarding sexual orientation and gender identity tend to be conservative, with no organised campaign in Fiji to address LGBTI rights.
Women find their voice
Broadcast: 14 Apr 2014
LGBTIQ-friendly organisation: Fiji Women’s Rights Movement
- FWRM is a multi-ethnic and multicultural non-governmental organisation committed to removing discrimination against women through institutional reforms and attitudinal changes. By means of core programmes as well as innovative approaches, the Movement practices and promotes feminism, democracy, the rule of law, good governance and human rights. It strives to empower, unite and provide leadership opportunities for women in Fiji, especially for emerging young leaders.
- FWRM’s vision is for the women of Fiji to be free from all forms of discrimination, have equal access to opportunities and to live in a healthy environment where the principles of feminism, democracy, good governance, multi-culturalism and human rights prevail.
W3JOY interviewed: Tara Chetty of Fiji Women’s Rights Movement
“Fiji is quite unique in the Pacific in that it has an incredibly vibrant women’s movement that has been active probably since the late ‘60s / early ‘70s through till today… so that’s definitely impacted the way women are able to take up certain roles in the country.”
“Women play a very big role in terms of the human rights community in general in Fiji and the sort of activism that goes on.”
“What has made a difference in how sexuality is discussed to a certain extent is… the way the HIV pandemic has been dealt with in the Pacific has enabled us to talk about particular forms of sexuality like men who have sex with men can be talked about in a different way now than it could have been 20 years ago.”
“Trans women have an emerging voice in Fiji at the moment. They’ve often been very much at the margins but they have been becoming very organised and what we’ve done, working with smaller groups and smaller organisations is to help facilitate and help enable their engagement with wider groups.”
“There’s no recognition of persons who transition. There’s no recognition changing gender identities so they are invisible at a sort of institutional, state or national level. They simply don’t exist.”