Victims of violence in Fiji

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the paper is to examine the statistics for violence performed by self or others in Fiji during the period 1969-1989 in the following sub-classifications: (1) fatal vs non-fatal; (2) Fijian vs Indian; and (3) male vs female.

Method: Crude rates per 100,000 were determined and the data sets were statistically examined.

Results: (1) Violence by self, which includes suicide and non-fatal injury by self, has significantly increased; (2) Indian violence by self has increased in both males and females; (3) suicide is 4 times more common than homicide, whereas non-fatal injury by others is 4 times more common than non-fatal injury by self; (4) non-fatal injury by self is 8 times more common than suicide, whereas non-fatal injury by others is over 100 times more common than homicide; (5) Indian violence by self is 6 times more common than Fijian violence by self, whereas Fijians experience violence by others 2.5 times more commonly than Indians; (6) female violence by self is 1.5 times more common than male violence by self, whereas male violence by others is 3 times more common than female violence by others; (7) the rates of suicide and homicide are low by international standards; and (8) Fijian violence by self is particularly low, but consistent with the low suicide rate of the indigenous populations in surrounding geographical regions.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that racial differences in violence are likely to be due to cultural factors.