Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission 15
Alternative report to the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women on the fifth periodic review of Fiji
Recommendations
The Commission encourages the state to undertake the following:
Review of the National Gender Policy to align it with the imperatives of the
Bill of Rights of the Fijian Constitution which expressly references sexual
orientation, gender identity and expression as prohibited grounds of
discrimination
Review of the Births, Deaths and Marriages Act to enable change of gender in
birth certificates consistent with the principles of equality before the law and
prohibited grounds of discrimination
Review of the standard operating procedures of the Fiji Police Force in
relation to arrests, body searches conducted on vulnerable groups such as
women with disabilities, sex workers, children and LGBTI persons, force
procedure and conditions of detention to ensure consistency with human
dignity and international human rights law.
Develop legal and social protection framework that ensures human dignity,
economic advancement and access to justice for Fijian women in the informal
workforce and increase their visibility in official statistics.
Establish a National Monitoring and Reporting Framework that encourages
constructive engagement between the state, national human rights
commission and civil society.
The Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission makes a voluntary commitment to
appoint a dedicated gender desk officer to advance the work of CEDAW.