[File Photo]Minister for Information Lynda Tabuya says the growing wave of online abuse targeting women is no longer a personal issue but a serious national problem that is harming Fiji’s productivity, leadership and future. Tabuya says women and girls make up half of our population, yet statistics show about 66 percent face some form of abuse, with women being attacked ten times more than men online. Tabuya says in 2018 there were 11 women in Parliament, but this dropped to just five after the 2022 elections, following intense online abuse during the campaign period. Tabuya warns that declining female representation in leadership will hurt families, society and Fiji as a whole. He says many men who abuse women are themselves victims of unresolved trauma and abuse, and calls for deliberate national policies focused on educating, mentoring and rehabilitating men.