Corrections officer Julia Tamani and Principal Corrections officer 
Vika Vereivalu (two ladies on the right) pose with Acting Commissioner
Akuila Namakadre and Director Rehabilitation Salote Panapasa.

Female corrections officers in Fiji have come a long way in the last decade and are now making decisions at the highest level of the Fiji Corrections Service, a meeting in Honiara was told yesterday.

That was the gist of the message relayed by Corrections officer Julia Tamani at the inaugural meeting of the Pacific Islands Correctional Women’s Conference in Honiara yesterday.

The conference was told that one of the landmark achievements within the FCS is the appointment of a woman who is now among the top five officers within the service.

The highest ranking female officer is Superintendent Salote Panapasa who is currently the Director Rehabilitation.

“On an interesting note, the barriers are breaking with a handful of women officers being identified, trained and employed in quite non-traditional roles,” Tamani said.

Participants were also told that just recently, two women became Fiji’s first dog-handlers at the Corrections Dog Unit.

“The women have proven themselves equally capable in training and handling dogs for quick response emergency situations in the event of escapes, regular tracking, patrol and surveillance of perimeters, and in a new initiative, may be part of the drug sniffing team,” Tamani said.

“It can be stated that women officers have struggled hard and long to reach today but the work is far from over.

“Current developments mark a rise in the journey but do not mark its end,” Tamani added.

Tamani was accompanied by Staff Officer Rehabilitation Vika Vereivalu. 


www.corrections.org.fj