17/09/2025
Comprehensive Sexuality Education in all schools NOW!
Anything less is a betrayal of our children’s rights.
The shocking revelation that nearly 500 teenage pregnancies have been recorded in Fiji in just six months is not just a health statistic - it is a loud and urgent alarm that our systems are failing young women and girls. It is a reminder of how deeply entrenched gender inequality, silence around sexuality, and the absence of rights-based education continue to harm the lives and futures of our children.
For decades, the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement (FWRM) and feminist allies have sounded the alarm on the need for Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) in schools. This is not a new issue. It is a longstanding demand grounded in the lived realities of girls and young women, who too often pay the highest price for society’s refusal to talk openly about sexuality, relationships, consent, and rights. Today’s numbers show the cost of delay - girls forced into motherhood before they are ready, interrupted education, limited opportunities, stigma, and in many cases, exposure to violence, exploitation and early or forced marriage.
"Girls as young as 15 years old are getting pregnant. Pregnancy at a young age is not just about 'choices'. It reflects the systemic denial of choice. When young people do not have access to accurate, age-appropriate, scientifically sound, and rights-based information about their bodies, relationships, and reproductive health, their autonomy is compromised. When schools and communities avoid honest conversations about sexuality, consent, and gender-based violence, they leave girls and young people unprotected. Silence is not neutral. It is complicit in perpetuating cycles of inequality and harm," FWRM Executive Director Nalini Singh said.
Feminist analysis shows us that controlling women’s and girls’ bodies has always been a means of upholding patriarchal power. Denying sexuality education is part of this control. It keeps girls uninformed, disempowered, and more vulnerable to abuse, coercion, sexually transmitted infections and early pregnancy. CSE by contrast, is an act of justice. It equips young people with the knowledge and skills to make safe, informed decisions, challenge harmful norms, and claim their rights. It is a powerful tool for transforming societies toward equality.
FWRM therefore calls for the immediate integration of Comprehensive Sexuality Education into all schools in Fiji. This is not an optional extra; it is a matter of rights, dignity, and justice.
To delay further is to continue failing our children. Policymakers, educators, and leaders must recognise that investing in CSE is investing in the health, safety, and future of the nation.
"We cannot talk about reducing teenage pregnancies without confronting the root causes; silence, shame, and systemic neglect. We cannot celebrate commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals or to gender equality while leaving young women and girls behind. Fiji has the opportunity right now, to show leadership by making sexuality education a national priority," Ms Singh said.
FWRM stands ready to work with the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, civil society, parents, and communities to design CSE that reflects our realities and protects our children. The time for half-measures and hesitation is over. Our girls deserve knowledge, not silence. They deserve autonomy, not control. They deserve justice, not judgment.
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For media queries please contact FWRM Communications Officer Serelisoni Moceica on 8677 330 or email