Funding, Power, and Resistance: How International Aid Shapes Feminist Movements in Fiji 

AUTHOR(S)
Priya Dhanani
Jacque True
Development

Fiji endures one of the world’s highest rates of gender-based violence (GBV), with two in three women experiencing physical or sexual abuse from a male intimate partner. Entrenched colonial legacies, harmful social norms, and economic inequalities fuel this crisis, normalizing the violence and silencing its survivors. Although international aid for gender-focused initiatives in Fiji surged from US$374 million pre-pandemic to US$1.2 billion in 2020–2021, we lack an understanding of how this influx shapes activist spaces. Guided by feminist political economy analysis and social movement theories, this study analyzes donor and feminist fund documents, interview discussions, and talanoa sessions—a Pacific storytelling method—among feminist and queer activists. It maps aid flows, interrogates donor metrics, and traces how competition and compliance pressures reshape activist strategies. The findings show how aid affects resource acquisition, distribution, and use, contributing to practical approaches for more equitable and sustainable movement building against GBV.

Downloads
There are no downloads available
Research Type(s)
Journal Article
July 30, 2026
Published in
2026
SHARE
explore similar papers

Leave a comment

Leave a Reply

What are you looking for?

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website.

Filter by Categories

Sort by Categories

Filter by Year

Sort by Year

Filter by Review Status

Sort by Review

Filter by Country

Sort Country Popup
Skip to content