Maldives : Status of women and children deteriorating- laments DRP

The main Opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) today lamented the deteriorating status of women in the Maldives whilst urging a speedy conclusion to the ongoing probe into under-age concubines.

‘It is obvious that there is deterioration in the work being done to address issues such as abuse and violence against, women and children,” DRP Women’s Wing Vice President Dunya Maumoon told Asian Tribune.

“DRP is extremely concerned about the lack of adequate attention and action with regards to gender equality and women’s rights in the Maldives under the current government,” said Mrs. Maumoon, a former Deputy Foreign Minister.

She said one particular such instance is the use of ‘child concubines’ by religious extremists, a matter which needs further investigation and immediate action’.

Two months long police investigations into alleged child concubines where children have been kept as sex slaves by religious extremists, are not yet over.

The controversial issue was exposed by the DRP Women’s Wing President and former Attorney General, Azima Shukoor, and since then it hit the headlines, forcing President Mohamed Nasheed to order a probe into it.

Questions have been raised over the delay in concluding the investigations, especially in the backdrop of the religious conservative party, the Adhaalath, being part of President Nasheed’s coalition government.

An investigation by the Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) into reports of under-age concubines too has failed to come up with conclusive evidence into concubines.

The Commission recently said 85 girls under 18 years of age have took pregnancy tests at the Indra Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) between January and September this year.

But its probe failed to say if the tests were related to children being kept as concubines.
And the Commission is still continuing its probe to establish a possible link.

“This is an issue that we are very concerned about. The question that arises is why do they go [to the hospital]? Are they forced to do something? Are they made concubines?” Mohamed Zahid, vice-president of the commission was quoted as saying in Minivan news, at a recent news conference.

Sexual abuse of women is rampant in the Maldives.

One in three women between the ages of 15 and 49 reported some form of physical or sexual violence at least once in their lives, according to the Gender Ministry's December 2006 study.

“One in five women between the ages of 15 and 49 reported physical or sexual violence by a partner, and one in nine reported experiencing severe violence.”

And children are not spared of this menace.

“One in six women in Male’ and one in eight countrywide reported experiencing childhood sexual abuse under the age of 15,” it said.

“Of those women between the ages of 15 and 49 who had ever been pregnant, 6 percent reported being physically or sexually abused during pregnancy,” the study added.

- Asian Tribune -