Fijian MP Lynda Tabuya will remain in parliament after her party decided not to expel her over an explicit video of her that circulated online.
The decision follows as minister for women, children and social protection by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, soon after local media reported the existence of the video.
Ms Tabuya has said the private video was meant for her husband and that its circulation online was a criminal invasion of privacy.
The People's Alliance Party (PAP), a member of Fiji's ruling coalition, decided against expelling Ms Tabuya after considering a report on the matter by a party committee.
PAP general secretary Sila Balawa said it determined the video was not intentionally published or released by Ms Tabuya and she didn't intend to cause disrepute to the party.
In a statement on Tuesday, Ms Tabuya said she was grateful that "reason and fairness" had prevailed.
"This matter should never have been raised," she said.
"My focus remains steadfast on serving the people of Fiji … I refuse to be distracted."
Ms Tabuya said she was pursuing legal action against two people in relation to the matter.
Fiji Police Force's Cyber Crime Unit is investigating how the video became public after Ms Tabuya lodged a complaint.
It's an offence to post an intimate visual recording or videos of a person under Fiji's online safety laws.
The Online Safety Commission says it is investigating the circulation of the video, and working with Fiji Police.
Advocates and commentators have criticised the Fiji government's handling of the issue, saying it ignored the "gross invasion of privacy" that had occurred, and showed a double standard applied to women in politics.
They also say the circulation of the video is the latest in a growing number of cases involving online gender-based violence, and warn it could deter other women from entering politics.
A norm-busting MP
Ms Tabuya, one of five female MPs in Fiji's 55-seat parliament, has built a large supporter base among Fiji's young people, and won the fourth-most amount of votes in the 2022 election.
Commentators and advocates say she gained support from young people by appealing to them on platforms like Facebook.
"She is a friend of social media," executive director of women's advocacy group FemLink Pacific, Fay Volatabu, said.
"She uses social media a lot for her campaigns and for her message, and that's how she reaches out to the majority of her backers."
Ms Tabuya has been a vocal advocate for women's rights and safety.
But observers say the MP had become a target for personal attacks as she defied gender norms as a parliamentarian.
"She questioned men's authority. She challenged them. She did things that rub people up the wrong way," Ms Volatabu said.
"She was really a thorn in the flesh of not only men, but women in Fiji too, because she just held her own and did whatever she wanted to do.
"She dressed however she wanted, she talked however she wanted."
Romitesh Kant, an Australian National University researcher on gender in Fiji politics, said Ms Tabuya was often attacked for what she wore and how she spoke, and this showed women were held to a higher, and harsher, standard compared to men.
"She is not seen as a traditional Indigenous Fijian woman. She straddles both worlds, the modern and the traditional," he said.
"And as all politicians do, they try their best to navigate these contradicting values and philosophies."
Issue 'weaponised'
The issue over the explicit video is not the first time Ms Tabuya's personal life has come under public scrutiny.
Early in 2024, PAP removed her as deputy leader over allegations she had an affair with Fiji's Education Minister Aseri Radrodro while on a parliamentary study trip to Melbourne the year before.
The allegations have not been proven, and Ms Tabuya has vehemently denied them.
In a statement at the time, PAP said the "scandal and its associated allegations" had caused potentially irreparable damage to the party.
As the latest controversy erupted in December, Mr Rabuka said he dismissed Ms Tabuya from her ministry in response to damage the video had done to the government's reputation.
"After considering the various codes that we had ascribed to as members of cabinet, I decided that [Ms Tabuya] had acted outside the conduct limits," he said.
While the Fijian constitution provides for public officials' professional conduct, there remains no specific code of conduct for MPs or cabinet ministers.
Ms Volatabu said there was a need for a code of conduct to make disciplinary procedures fairer.
"In this case, they seem to be making up the rules as they're going," she said.
Fiji National University politics expert Mosmi Bhim said in dismissing Ms Tabuya as minister, the government was reflecting conservative cultural and religious views on how leaders should behave.
Dr Bhim said some members of the public in Fiji believed she should have been aware of the risk the video could become public.
Mr Kant, from ANU, said discussion over the content of the explicit video distracted from the main issue — its leaking and then circulation online without her permission.
He said the controversy had also been used to damage Ms Tabuya's standing in an emerging tussle for power within her party.
"Rabuka is getting older, so there is this expectation that at some point he will leave politics and [someone will take] over the reins and there have been different camps advocating for different people," he said.
"The issue has been weaponised by Lynda's opponents both within and outside of the party.
"We need to take the conversation back to … the intrusions of privacy and how people tend to weaponise that to attack women."
A scourge on Fiji
Mr Kant said the treatment of female MPs is linked to Fiji's rates of violence against women and girls, which are some of the world's highest.
Nearly two-thirds of women have experienced physical or sexual violence, according to the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre.
Fiji's Online Safety Commission said more than 60 per cent of Fijian women experience online abuse.
"This whole issue brings to light a lot of these intersecting issues that we need to discuss as a country and see how we can actually address this," Mr Kant said.
Acting online safety commissioner Tajeshwari Devi said there was a steady rise in reports to the commission about online bullying, stalking, and non-consensual sharing of intimate images.
Women, including female MPs, faced significant online abuse including threats, defamation, and doxxing — or, the sharing of personal information online, Ms Devi said.
"The types of harassment are often gendered, focusing on personal rather than professional aspects of their lives," she said.
Not long before the explicit video was circulated online, the government announced a gender analysis of online safety laws, ahead of a review of the legislation due in 2025.
Ms Devi said technology-facilitated gender-based violence was not just a regulatory issue.
[YouTube women in politics]"It's also a societal challenge that requires collective action from the government agencies, from the digital platforms, civil society and the public most importantly."
Ms Volatabu, from FemLink Pacific, said online safety laws needed to be better enforced to prevent technology-facilitated violence against women.
There are concerns that until Fiji addresses the issue more effectively, women will be deterred from entering politics.
Mr Kant said Fiji's aspiring female candidates were receiving two negative messages about public life, as women continued to experience online abuse.
"Number one, that the personal now becomes political, where people will attack them personally," he said.
"But also it shows that the parties that they join will not have their backs should something like this happen, that they'll be left to fend for themselves."
