Contentious article of Child Sexual Abuse Act to be reassessed
23 Nov 2009, 1:18 AM
The president’s office has said it will reassess article 14 of the Child Sex Abuse (Special Provisions) Act, which some have argued could provide a means of evasion for paedophiles.
The long overdue Act categorises child sex offences for the first time in the Maldives and contains harsh sentences of up to 25 years for those convicted.
But under article 14, if an adult is legally married to a child under Islamic sharia, none of the offences specified in the Act will be considered a crime.
Although the Act was ratified earlier this month, the contentious article has elicited a strong reaction from NGOs and children’s rights activists for potentially providing a loophole for child sexual abuse.
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