Malé, Maldives – Child and Family Protection Services of the Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Services says that a rape case of a minor in the central Maldives is being investigated after it was reported last night.
Gender Ministry said that they are doing the utmost to provide protection for the child while liaising with the family. The Ministry advised the public to not release details of the child or act in any manner which may harm the rights of the child as specified under the Child Rights Protection Act (Act No. 19/2019).
Last night a sexual abuse case of a 16 year old girl who is also a victim of grooming was widely covered by the local media. Police confirmed that the case was reported and provided no further information since the case is still under information.
It is however unclear whether the information provided by the Gender Ministry and Maldives Police are the same case.
Maldives have been reporting an alarming number of child sexual abuse cases in the past few months. Out of 364 cases of Sexual abuse reported between 2015 to 2019, there have been convictions for 49 cases, which is only 13.5 percent til date.
In addition to this, Prosecutor General Shameem has previously stated that the PG Office had sent 232 charges of 29 different types of child sexual abuse in 2020 and that majority (115) of the cases this time were also presented to the courts in Male’ city. The conviction rate is 0.68% for the year 2020 with only 2 cases.
