The Ministry of Family, Gender and Human Rights has received 208 reports of child abuse so far this year, Minister Azima Shukoor has said.
In a statement marking Children’s Day, Shukoor said 83 percent of all reported child sexual abuse claims involved young girls. In addition, Shukoor said the ministry has also been informed of 43 cases of child neglect.
“The number of children facing abuse at one point in time in the Maldives is a number that is unreasonable for a country with such a small population,” she said, according to local media.
“The abuse of children is on the rise. Children being used as sex workers, where the children are sent to places as a means to pleasure people and to gain an income from such a trade. This is being practiced in the Maldives today. Both boys and girls are being used in this trade,” Shukoor said.
