Domestic and sexual violence is costing Fijian employers almost 10 days of work per employee annually, reveals a new study by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group.

Titled, ‘Business Case for Workplace Responses to Domestic and Sexual Violence in Fiji’, the study shows the crucial role employers can play in supporting staff affected by domestic and sexual violence.

It also recommends actions they can take, such as developing standardized workplace responses and training teams to help affected employees.

Following the publication of the report, IFC launched a program to coach trainers to help businesses across the Pacific better support staff affected by domestic and sexual violence.

The study showed companies can mitigate the effects of domestic and sexual violence with simple approaches, like helping employees access community services, can make a real difference.

Deva De Silva, IFC’s Resident Representative for Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati and Tuvalu, said companies with well designed policies and processes for those harmed by domestic and sexual violence can improve employee well-being and performance, driving better business returns.

IFC surveyed three companies in the Fijian private sector with a total of 1,701 employees.

Thirty-three percent of employees at these companies completed the survey and of those surveyed, 21 percent of women and nine percent of men had experienced violence in the last 12 months.

For women and men, the most common form of violence was emotional abuse, harassment or intimidation by a family or household member, followed by physical violence.

Meanwhile, Anna Dorney, Australia’s Deputy High Commissioner to Fiji said this study demonstrates domestic and sexual violence has a ripple effect across employees, teams and businesses and employers can combat this, leading to better outcomes.

The report's lead author and IFC Gender Operations Officer Shabnam Hameed, said financial independence is the key pathway to leaving violence.

"A workplace that can help those impacted can give them the financial security they need, empowering them to make their own decisions.”

Fiji has one of the world’s highest rates of domestic and sexual violence, experienced by almost two thirds of women in their lifetimes.