SUVA, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Fiji has reported a alarming rate of child abuse cases from February to April this year, according to Fiji's Child Welfare Act national database.
Fiji reported a total of 122 child abuse cases in February, 97 cases in March and 90 cases in April.
The majority of the child victims were 16 to 17 years of age and more than half of them were girls. Of the reported child cases, child neglect cases stand at 95, physical abuse at 75 and Sexual abuse cases at 37.
Shairana Ali, chief executive of Fiji's Save the Children, said that the rise in the number of child abuse cases in Fiji is triggering concern in the community level.
"We are doing awareness at the grassroots level for communities to be in a position to recognize and be in a position to report as soon as they know or come to know off these issues," Ali told Fijian Broadcasting Corporation on Tuesday.
Currently, the Save the Children is working together with Fiji's Social Welfare Department to educate the public on learning to speak out and reporting signs of such acts.
In recent years, child abuse cases have sky-rocketed in the island nation.
The Child Welfare Act national database shows that 3,061 cases, involving children, were reported between 2016 and 2018.
More than 1,300 cases of child abuse were reported last year, a 22 percent increase compared to 838 cases recorded in 2018, also the highest reported since 2016. Enditem
