one in seven children of secondary school age in the maldives, sexually abused
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OneInSevenChildrenofSecondarySchoolAgeInTheMaldives,SexuallyAbused
ByHawwaLubna|June14th,2012
AlmostoneinsevenchildrenofsecondaryschoolageintheMaldiveshasbeensexuallyabusedatsometimeintheirlives,accordingtoanunpublished2009studyonviolenceagainstchildren.
Gut-wrenchingdetailsofheinouschildsexualabusecasesgrabbingheadlinesinthepastfewyearseventuallygatheredenoughpublicpressureintheMaldivefortheauthoritiestopassalawstipulatingstringentpunishmentsforsexualpredators.
Sincethepassageof“StringentPunishmentsforPerpetratorsofSexualViolenceAgainstChildrenAct’in2009,severalpaedophileshavebeenincarceratedfor10to20yearsoflife.
AccordingtoProsecutorGeneralOffice(PGO),46casesofsexuallyabusingaminorweresubmittedtothecourtsin2011.In2010,35casesweresubmitted.Theyearbefore,41cases.
Somehighprofilecasesmakeheadlinesbutoftencasesgounder-reported.Withnopublicstatisticsonthenumberofincarcerations,thetotalfiguresonhowmanycasesaresuccessfullyprosecutedandwhohasbeenputbehindbarsareunknown.
Yet,morecasesarebeingreportedandinvestigated.
In2010,themagistratecourtonUngoofaaruislandaloneconvictedeightpeopleinrelationto10differentchildabusecasesfromRaaAtoll.Amongthemwerefatherswhorapedtheirdaughters,amotherwhohidherhusband’ssexuallydeviantcrimes,andmenwhoabusedlittleboysnoolderthan10.
Doyouknowwhotheyare?No–butitisdefinitelyyourlegalrighttoknow.
Article77oftheaforementionedlegislationnotonlyobligatestheauthoritiestopublicisetheidentityoftheoffendersconvictedunderthelaw,butalsotellstheauthoritiestocreateawebsitethroughwhichthecanpublicknowwhothesexualoffendersare.
Werethesystemstatedinlawtobeestablished,peoplecanevenretrieveinformationonsexoffendersbysendingatext.Almostfouryearafterthelawhasbeenpassed,theGenderDepartmentsaysthesystem“isstillundermaintenance.”
AccordingtoPoliceSergeantAbdulJaleelfromtthepoliceFamilyandChildrenProtectionDepartment(FCPD),discussionsareunderwaybetweentheauthoritiestocreatethedatabaseofoffenders.Headmitted,“thedelaysareunfortunateandweneedtomakeitapriorityissue.”
Stressingontheimportanceofsuchadatabase,JaleedrecalledanincidentinMeemuAtollwhereamanwhohadarecordofchildabusewasfoundtohavecommittedthesamecrimeagainstanotherchild.
“ThismanwasbanishedtoanislandontoanislandinMeemuAtoll.Whenwewereinvestigatingachildabusecasein2009,wefoundthatthismanwasresponsibleandheevenhadapreviousrecordofabusingchildren.”Jaleelnoted.“Buttheislandersdidnotknowthat.”
Henotedthatthedispersionofthe300,000-strongpopulationover190islandsmadeiteasierforperpetratorstoswitchislands,andblendinamongpeopleunaw
areoftheircrimes.
“Therefore,acentralwebsitewheresexoffenderscanbetracked,monitoredandpubliccanfindabouttheconvictedoffendersiscrucialtosafeguardchildrenandadultsfromsuchperpetrators.”SergeantJaleelobserved.
“Itwouldalsodefinitelyexpediteourinvestigationswithbettercoordinationbetweenauthoritiesondifferentislands.”
Severalcountriesworldwidehaveadoptedsuchmeasures.
Forexample,theNationalSexOffenderPublicWebsite(NSOPW)intheUS,providesnotonlyanopportunityforseveralstatestoparticipateinanunprecedentedpublicsafetyresourcebysharingpublicsexoffenderdatanationwide,butprovidesaplatformforparentsandauthoritiestocollaborateforthesafetyofbothadultsandchildren.
However,oftenargumentsaretakenagainstsuchpublicregistriesasitmaybedefamatoryandmakeslifedifficultforapersonidentifiedasa“sexualpredator”.
JaleelagreedthattheideaofapublicsexoffendersregistryisnewtotheMaldivesandmayfacesimilarchallenges.
However,hearguedthatlegislationcanbemadeclarifyingwhocanbeincludedornotdependingonthemagnitudeofthecrime.“Ifwelookatdomesticviolencecases,theperpetrator’snamecanbeavoideddependingonwhetheritwasfirstoffenceorthematterissolvedifitsbetweenacouple.”
“Butinheinouscrimessuchassexuallyabusingachild,thereshouldbenoexcuses,”hecontended.“Andrepeatoffendersmustbemadepublictoo.”
Healsosaidprovisionscanbemadewherebypoliceorauthoritiescandecidetoreleaseanameofapersonnotconvictedforthesexualoffence,shouldtheyhavereasonandsubstantialevidencetobelievethepersonisathreattosociety.
AishathIbrahim,themotherofafiveyearoldworkingasateacherinMale’says,“Itwillbeveryeasyforparentstoidentifypotentialthreatsandprotectourchildrenifwecanknowwhotheoffendersare.”
“Todaywedon’tevenknowwhoisourneighbor,”sheadded.
InthecrowdedcapitalMale’,peoplelivecloselytogetherinrentedhousingorsharedapartmentswithinlargefamilyunits,afactorthathasbeenidentifiedascontributingtoinstancesofchildsexualabuse.
http://minivannews.com/politics/one-in-seven-children-of-secondary-school-age-suffered-sexual-abuse-in-the-maldives-39063
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