MEN do not commit abuse because they are a certain ethnicity, says Fiji’s Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama.

In a statement posted on his official Facebook page today, Mr Bainimarama said men did not commit abuse because they may be bigger or stronger, but men commit abuse because they were small-minded and weak.

“Violence against women and girls has been a longstanding plague on Fijian society. Anyone who makes excuses for abusive behaviour is just as guilty as the abusers themselves,” Mr Bainimarama said.

“For the sake of all the women we love and care about, I’m fighting every day to build a better and safer Fijian society where no one lives in fear of domestic violence.”

PM Bainimarama has also urged Fijians suffering from domestic violence or know someone who was a victim of abuse to call the mobile shortcode 1560 platform to report the crime.