Reason to Rape



A 70-year-old man raped a 10-year-old girl. Not once but TWICE! He was charged with two counts of rape. The matter came to light when the poor girl complained of pain in her lower abdomen to her teacher. What other sad thing is that the 70-year-old pervert is the victims’ neighbor. He has been jailed for 10 years and will not eligible for parole for 8 years and has 30 days to file an appeal.

The man is old enough to be the poor girls GREAT-GRANDFATHER! What was he thinking? What made him to such a heinous crime?

There’s more.



A scared and sad child. Does
expression suit a 12-year-old?

This is not the only child abuse case that has made news lately. A man in Nadi tried to rape a 12-year-old boy. The victim was a student at a Sabeto school where Jamalu Din, the convicted,  taught.  In January last year, Din tried to force himself onto the boy who was carrying out his chores in the backyard. Later that night the child called his parents who took the child away the next day and filed a police complaint. Instead of being in jail for three years, he has a suspended term for 7 years. In case you did not know, a suspended term is when the person will not be going to jail but if he or she commits a crime within the period of time given by the judge, then the person will be going to jail for the term he was originally given in the first place. So instead of going to prison, Jamalu Din will be paying the victims family a two thousand dollar fine. Is that what the price is these days for attempting to rape a child? A slap on the wrist?

When I hear this kind of reports, the questions that comes to my mind is that  makes these people tick? Why do they do this? Is it psychological? Are they experimenting? Or are they so desperate for sex? Or is it a question of domination?

Susan Brownmiller, a renowned feminist author suggested that rape is a pure act of control and domination and not lust. In the twenty-five years or so since her book was published, Brownmillers views have become mainstream. In a nutshell, the book says that all men have sexual desires but do not rape. Rape in reality is a show of dominance power and control.

“Rape is viewed as an unnatural behavior that has nothing to do with sex, and one that has no consequence in the animal world. Man's discovery that his genitalia could serve as a weapon to prehistoric times, along with the use of fire and the first crude stone axe. From prehistoric times to the present, I believe, rape has played a critical function. It is nothing more or less than a conscious process of intimidation by which all men keep all women in a state of fear.”

This view has been contradicted many times in recent years. Two researchers: Randy Thornhill and Craig T. Palmer believe that it is, in reality a biological act. They even have a book published on the topic.

“We want to challenge the dearly held idea that rape is not about sex. We realize that our approach and our frankness will rankle some social scientists, including some serious and well-intentioned rape investigators. But many facts point to the conclusion that rape is, in its very essence, a sexual act. Furthermore, we argue, rape has evolved over millennia of human history, along with courtship, sexual attraction and other behaviors related to the production of offspring.”



A book by Randy
Thornhill and Craig T. Palmer



Both these theories have one thing in common. That is that rape is, in fact, a primitive response to whatever the person has been feeling. A primitive reaction that has been incorporated in the human races genetic make-up. However, one suggests that it is an issue of dominance while the other believes that rape is has a biological response to the inhibited and very much innate recognition of the pressure to increase the human population since male can copulate in any situation and at any time of the year without the presence of a mating season such as other species. A very clinical and unattached explanation from these men.

 An act of dominance? They need to be taught that all men and women equal. I also wish to point out that any sort of crime committed to children is a crime against humanity, a crime against innocence, a crime against the love, worship and devotion to anything and everything pure!

If you chose to view rape as a primal instinct for the survival of the human race then let me remind you that Mother Earth has already reached her carrying capacity of 7 billion. Therefore primal, prehistoric ideologies have no place in the 21st century.  

 

Gay Rights in Fiji

 As in any other country, there is considerable number of gays and lesbians in Fiji. But it is a different issue altogether when it comes to the representation of this community. The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre (FWCC), a group that defends the rights of women in the country, represent the Gay community as well. Another group that recently came under the spotlight, Oceania Pride is a group that many people in the country do not know of. The Facebook group page states that the group was created to “promote awareness as well as advocate for LGBTQ rights all across the Pacific”.  

 

IDAHOT panelists and moderator: From left: Noelene Nabulivou (DAWN), Reverend Akuila Yabaki (CCF), Ashwin Raj (USP academic) and Mereia Carling (moderator). Photo courtesy of USP Development, Marketing and Communications Office.



Another group that many do not know about is the Drodrolago Movement (DroMo). The group is based in Fijis University of the South Pacific, Laucala Campus. But the group has had several issues of their own. The USP Student Association is currently divided on whether to affiliate itself with the movement or not.

Fiji became the first Pacific Island country to mark International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT), with a panel discussion held at the University of the South Pacific (USP), on Tuesday May 17, 2011.

DroMo members and allies organized this event. The panel discussion was organized with the support of the School of Government, Development and International Affairs and the School of Language, Arts and Media of USP and Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN).

Another event organized by the FWCC and Oceania Pride was cancelled by the Ministry of Defense. The groups had organized a march along Suva's main street to mark the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia on the 17^th of May.

In a Fiji Sun article the Fiji Police Commissioner Brigadier-General Ioane Naivalurua said the reversed decision was only done to protect the safety of the marchers – the majority being gays and lesbians.

In the same article, Roshika Deo, a trustee of Oceania Pride, said that they were notified by Police at 9am of the cancellation, citing that the Force “did not realize that this was a march for gays and lesbians.”

“It is ironic that police had to cancel the event on the day.“They must have overlooked the application and upon realising the permit was for the  homophobia and transphobia march, they told us that we can’t march.”

The cancellation at the eleventh hour is indeed really very suspicious. Why did the Ministry of Defense take such a long time to realize the risk it would pose to the LGBTIQ community? If that was really the reason why the march was cancelled at all. This clearly shows homophobia at its best on the day of International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia by the Fiji Ministry of Defense.

Fiji was the second country in the world to explicitly protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation in its constitution. (South Africa was the first)  But in 2009, the Constitution was abolished. So discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is not banned by the Fiji's law.  This clearly means that in Fiji there is nothing for or against the gay and lesbian community. Thus, the question remains: why did the Defense Ministry cancel the approval to hold the march. The security of gays and lesbians during the march just seems like a lame excuse to stop the voices of the minority but a steadily growing vocal community. We all know that there is security in numbers so whose security was really the concern? Certainly not the hundreds that were meant to participate in the march. If there is security in numbers than individual gays or lesbians are a target of hate crime but there is no such reporting of such issue.

All these observations have led me to diagnose the government as homophobic.

However, the government also seems be divided on the issue of giving rights to homosexuals in the country. Since 1 February 2010, private, adult, consensual and non-commercial male and female homosexual conduct is legal under the Crimes Decree 2010. This does seem like a step in the positive direction made by the government to be tolerant and at the same time accepting of the LGBTIQ community.

Finally, I want to remind everyone of a very important court case. In 2005, Australian tourist Thomas McCosker had consensual sex with an adult named Dhirendra Nadan. The men were tried and jailed under the nation's sodomy law, but the conviction was subsequently overturned by the nation's highest court as violating the Constitution. But the same constitution does not exist anymore. Hopefully, Yash Ghai and his band come up with something that makes everyone happy.

New Miss Fiji

The contestant who has won the right to represent Fiji in the Miss World will not do so. She was replaced by the runner up. Torika Watters was replaced by the 27-year-old Koini Vakaloloma.

Watters has to be at least a month away from turning 17 by the start of the pageant.  So the Miss World organizers have finally put an end to all this fiasco. Almost. Watters will go on to represent Fiji next year. Will it be enough to silence the racist attacks that young Miss Watters has had to bear?

In this article http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=201097 in the Fiji Times Fiji, pageant director Andhy Blake says that Watters will be better mentally prepared by next year. But is there really much difference in the mentality of a 16-year-old from a 17-year-old? There is no difference.  Blake had obviously over looked the age of Watters when reserving Torikas place in the pageant this year and she will be our representitive next year. There is obviously favoritism.  The question we all must ask is ‘why?’



Koini Vakaloloma



Koini Vakaloloma has far more experience then Torika Watters. She was the third runner up in the Miss Hibiscus last year.

The pageant organizers and judges in Fiji have been reported as being biased. Miss Torika place as a contestant was reserved. So was the place of three other contestants. Andhy Blake has said that this is common practice in such competitions. The pageant directors choice to pick these four in particular must have easily swayed the decision of the judging panel.

There has been so much controversy regarding this years pageant. Everything from the judging criteria, the picking of the contestant, the winner of the pageant and even her race and age has been under scrutiny. Even the judging panel and their decision have not been spared.

Blake says that the Miss World committee had been very happy with his work and "really that's a testament in itself”.