Gender Violence and Human Rights: Seeking Justice in Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu

Gender Violence and Human Rights enquires into gender violence and the efficacy of human rights advocacy and related reformist strategies in three western Pacific countries: Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.

Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu are postcolonial nations operating in a global arena in which human rights doctrine is widely accepted and promoted. The three countries constitutionally guarantee gender equality and have ratified the key instrument for promoting women’s rights globally: the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). They have also ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), a convention or treaty that is crucial to combatting gender violence in the western Pacific, where rape victims are often underage.