RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 108

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN MALDIVES
Ahmed Shuhad*

I. INTRODUCTION
Violence against women (VAW) is a crime that is prevalent in many countries. It is a highly complex
category of crime and may include very severe offences such as murder, rape and sexual assault. But it may
also include offences that are seen as less serious but have significant implications to victims and the society.
Domestic Violence (DV) is a type of violence that is often interchangeably used with VAW. Unlike VAW, DV
is defined by the offence and the relationship between victims and offender.
Maldives has also seen VAW become a national concern that requires immediate attention. Commonly
known statistics publicized in the Maldives on VAW suggest that 1 in every 3 women aged 18-59 may haveexperienced some form of physical or sexual violence. There are, undoubtedly, many reasons for thisphenomenon. An important dimension that can shed some insight into this problem is the level of tolerance
and intolerance towards women and girls in the Maldivian context. As such, this paper seeks to explore andexplain how debates about tolerance and intolerance can be used to understand and explain VAW in theMaldives.

II. VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN THE MALDIVIAN CONTEXTIn Maldives, the first ever comprehensive study on violence against women carried out in 2007 revealed
that 1 in 3 women between ages of 15-49 have experienced some kind of physical or sexual abuse at somepoint in their lifetimes (Ministry of Gender and Family, 2007). This was the ‘shocking’ finding from this study.
And. like in many other countries, the various forms of violence against women (VAW) that are highly
prevalent in Maldives have since been recognized as a national problem. Since then, the phrase 1 in 3 has
become a powerful slogan for policy and practice change to improve the status of VAW.
Other findings from MSWHLE include:-

1 in 5 women aged 15-49 (19.5%), who had ever been in a relationship, reported experiencing physicaland/or sexual violence by an intimate partner.
Approximately 1 in 8 women aged 15-49 (13.2%) reported experiencing physical and/or sexual violenceby someone other than an intimate partner, since the age of 15.
Combining physical and/or sexual violence by partners and non-partners, since the age of 15, we findthat more than 1 in 4 women (28.4%) have experienced partner or non-partner violence, or both.
Approximately 1 in 8 women aged 15-49 (12.2%) reported that they had been sexually abused before
the age of 15, that is, that they had experienced childhood sexual abuse.

The study also revealed that among those women who have experienced violence, very few sought help
from formal services including the formal justice system. There may be several reasons for this, including
barriers in addressing their grievances through the formal justice system. In studies conducted on trust
towards key criminal justice system agencies, it has been shown that the public has very low trust andconfidence in the justice sector including the police and courts (UNDP, 2016).

III. CONCEPTUALIZATION OF TOLERANCE, INTOLERANCE AND VAW
To begin with, it is useful to understand what tolerance and intolerance mean in such a social context.
The relation that is expressed by the words tolerance and intolerance may well be explained by the notionof attitudes and behaviours towards views that are not in line with what one believes. In the gender sphere,
therefore, this is related to what people believe the roles and responsibilities of men and women are in the*

Chief Superintendent of Police, Maldives Police Service, Republic of Maldives.

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society. There are many factors that contribute to these beliefs that include, but are not limited to, religion,
culture, upbringing and media. These various factors help build a world view that generates intolerance
towards a group of people especially when they do not confirm to your notion of what is acceptable.
Indeed, the concept of equality itself needs to be conceptually redefined and related to how it will improvein a more holistic manner. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW) explains this when they state the following:a purely formal legal or programmatic approach is not sufficient to achieve women’s de facto
equality with men, which the Committee interprets as substantive equality. In addition, theConvention requires that women be given an equal start and that they be empowered by anenabling environment to achieve equality of results. It is not enough to guarantee women
treatment that is identical to that of men. Rather, biological as well as socially and culturally
constructed differences between women and men must be taken into account. Under certain
circumstances, non-identical treatment of women and men will be required in order to address
such differences. Pursuit of the goal of substantive equality also calls for an effective strategy
aimed at overcoming underrepresentation of women and a redistribution of resources andpower between men and women.
Eliminating gender inequality and discrimination are important for criminal justice, especially for accessto justice. As such there are important achievements to be gained from having mechanisms for good
governance, independence, impartiality and the credibility of the criminal justice system that can enable
these developments.

IV. CURRENT SITUATION
A. Legal
1. Domestic Violence Prevention Act 2012
In 2012 the much-awaited Domestic Violence Prevention Act (DVPA 2012) was passed and enacted,
which offered a comprehensive legislative framework to tackle domestic violence. The term domestic
violence means different things in different legal jurisdictions. The Domestic Violence Prevention Act (DVPA)
2012 defines “domestic violence” as “acts by a perpetrator where such conduct harms, or may cause imminent
harm to, the safety, health or wellbeing of the victim(s), and provided the victim(s) and perpetrator are in adomestic relationship” (Domestic Violence Prevention Act, 2012, Article 4(a)). Domestic relationship is meant
to include:
1. Persons who are or were married to each other;
2. Persons who share or have recently shared the same residence;
3. Persons who are the parents of a child or a person who has or had parental responsibility for thatchild;
4. Persons who are family members related by consanguinity, affinity or marriage;
5. Persons who are domestic child caretakers or domestic workers; or
6. Persons who are in an intimate relationship.
Furthermore, the DVPA (2012) recognizes various acts as domestic violence. They are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Physical abuse;
Sexual abuse;Economic and financial abuse;
Impregnating the spouse, without concern for her health condition and against any medical advice torefrain from impregnation for a specified period;
Deliberately withholding the property of a person;
Intimidation;
Harassment;
Stalking.

This conceptualization of domestic violence in Maldives is very broad and covers offences that are115

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attributed to the intolerance of women and their rights in the society. This progressive approach tocriminalizing domestic violence opens new challenges as the institutions that must be at the forefront ofprotecting women and assisting them with access to justice are tasked with a broad mandate. The Human
Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) stated in a 2005 study “men have become more conservative on
these sensitive issues related to women’s rights, or at least less certain, whereas women’s views, for the mostpart, have altered much less and in some areas have become more strongly supportive of women’s rights”(HRCM, 2013, p. 3). Comparing results from 2005 baseline data, the HRCM reports:
The current survey indicates a significant drop in support for women’s equality. In all seven areas
surveyed (inheritance, divorces, work, politics, etc.) fewer respondents than in 2005 considered women shouldhave equal rights with men. Support for women’s right to equality in custody matters, for example, has
dropped from over 90% among both rural and urban populations to around 60% (HRCM, 2013, p. 2)
B. Recorded Data
Like many other countries, and to similar proportions as several others, domestic violence is recognized
as a significant issue in Maldives. Until recently, it remained strongly hidden, and it is only recently that it
has become an issue of public and open debate. Today, domestic violence can be considered a highly focused
arena of violence against women (VAW).
Table 1. Reported cases to Family Protection Authority 2013-2016
Number of cases

2013
19

2014
149

2015
438

2016
642

Table 2. Present statistics based on reported incidents to the police

Domestic Violence reported
cases to the police

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

304

341

187

207

178

146

84

110

114

As can be seen from the above two tables, the reported incidents to both the FPA and the MPS havebeen increasing rapidly. In part, this is because of an increased awareness of domestic violence in thecommunity.
As can be seen from the following table, the majority of domestic violence victims in Maldives are women,
although the law covers violence against men too.
Table 3. Gender and age of victims of domestic violence
GenderFemaleMale

Under 18 years
125
87

Age

Over 18 years
433
83

Total
558
170

Number of domestic violence victims involved in reported cases for 201
C. Some Underlying Problems and Gaps
While the enactment of DVPA (2012) has allowed new avenues to provide support to victims, there areseveral issues that need further ratification. Some of them include the following:
1. The DVPA is a semi-criminal law in the sense that it only allows punishment if there is a violation of
the protection order issued under the law. The law itself does not provide a pathway to hold offenders
accountable within the criminal justice system for the offence of domestic violence.
2. While DVPA covers some elements of hate crimes when there is an existing domestic relationshipbetween offender and victim, the fact that there is no framework or law to criminalize hate crimes
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make it difficult for the state to prosecute individuals for the underlying issues, which in many cases
is intolerance
3. The criminal justice system is yet to formalize emerging good practices such as restorative justice.
Domestic Violence offers a venue where restorative justice can be effectively applied, make theoffender accountable and empower the victims to move on from the situation. It will further allow
rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders into the society.
D. Challenges to the Police and Criminal Justice System
One of the greatest challenges facing the criminal justice system, including the police, is the reluctance ofvictims to provide support to the investigation. This happens for many reasons but mainly because victims
are afraid to leave the violent situation in fear of either retaliation or fear of losing children. The fact thatsociety still sees VAW as a private matter and something that should not be talked about outside of thehome makes women, who are most often than not the victims of domestic violence, reluctant to seek help
either from the police or relevant other authorities.
Also, it is not uncommon for women to experience a cycle of revictimization within the justice system.
Many police officers and staff from criminal justice agencies still do not accept VAW or DV as a true crime;
rather they see this as a personal dispute. Because of this, inadvertently or not, victims get revictimized
within the system.
There are many emerging forms of VAW and DV that require urgent attention. Cyberbullying andcyberharassment, including sexual harassment and blackmail, are becoming common. The advances intechnology place police and other relevant agencies at a disadvantage as they tend to remain far behind thecriminals in technological development.

V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Getting more accurate empirical data on prevalence rate: There is an urgent need for robust
primary research relevant to the current state of issues in Maldives. The most commonly referred toresearch in this area—the Maldives Study on Women’s Health and Life Experiences of 20071—while
useful for some policy and decision-making related to domestic violence in Maldives, it predates thedomestic violence legislation and is not based on the legal definition of domestic violence as used in
Maldives now. Data needs to be available disaggregated by variables such as gender, age and geography
as well as social demographic factors like victim-offender relations, etc.
2. Understanding organizational knowledge and attitudes: Key criminal justice agencies such as thepolice, courts and correctional system can influence how policy is actually practised. Acknowledging
that these agencies may have low trust from the public, it is important to understand how different
agencies actually contribute to resolving the abuse or revictimizing the victim. Capacity-building ofthese key agencies needs to be undertaken to ensure that policy is practised as envisioned in law.
Investments in victim support units (VSU), such as that of the Maldives Police Service and Prosecutor
General’s Officer, are highly important and required. Attention needs to shift from seeing victims as
only the person at the receiving end of the violence. Instead, a broader focus on victimization with an
acknowledgement of impact and implications to society and community should be given attention.
Thus, building resilient communities and community groups, involvement of community such as
through restorative justice programmes can have useful impact.
3. Improving legislative and regulatory framework review: The extent to which, and how, theexisting legislative and regulatory framework facilitates, obstructs or limits desired results needs tobe held more openly, and any revisions or amendments required must be brought as soon as possible.
Maldives does not have legal aid assured by legislation, and rehabilitative and reintegrative measures
are under-developed. Mechanisms such as restorative justice offer promising solutions but need proper
1 Emma Fulhu: Maldives Study on Women’s Health and Life Experiences (WHLE), Published by the Ministry of Gender and Family - ISBN
99915-95-01-5

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legislative and regulatory mechanisms to be implemented.
4. Addressing various types of violence: Physical and sexual violence against women and children are
the most common forms of domestic violence, and these are some of the most heinous forms ofviolence experienced within the context of domestic violence. The current effort on combating violenceagainst these highly vulnerable victims needs to continue. But there are also other emerging crimes
and victim categories that have been observed and, hence, the ongoing efforts need to be inclusive.
Some of most noticed emerging issues are addressed in the Action Plan and includes:• T echnology facilitated domestic violence: (ab)use of technology in the commission of domestic violence(domestic violence in the digital era: harassing, stalking, blackmailing, threatening)• Domestic violence against and by those with mental health problems and persons with disabilities• Elder abuse and domestic violence (from financial crimes to violence)• Expatriate population and domestic violence: From sexual exploitation to slavery• Domestic violence against men• Domestic violence and extremism
References
Attorney General’s Office, & UNDP. (2014). Legal and Justice Sector Baseline Study. Attorney General’s Officeand the United Nations Development Programme in the Maldives.
CEDAW Committee. (2015). General Recommendation No. 33 (Women’s Access to Justice). CEDAWCommittee.
Domestic Violence Prevention Act, Pub. L. No. Number 3/2012 (2012).
Emma Fulhu: Maldives Study on Women’s Health and Life Experiences (WHLE), Published by Ministry of
Gender and Family - ISBN 99915-95-01-5
Human Rights Commission of Maldives. (2011). Six Years On - The Rights Side of Life: The second Maldivesbaseline human rights survey.
Maldives Police Service. (2016, October 4). Crime Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.police.gov.
mv/#casestat
Ministry of Gender and Family. (2007). The Maldives Study on Women’s Health and Life Experiences: Initial
results on prevalence, health outcomes and women’s responses to violence.

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