UN Flags Pervasive Violence and Mental Health Concerns Among Children in Maldives

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has raised serious concerns over widespread violence against children in the Maldives and growing mental health challenges, warning that stigma and cultural taboos continue to undermine reporting and effective responses.

In findings published last Thursday as part of a joint review covering Colombia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malaysia, the Maldives, Pakistan and Spain, the Committee said violence against children in the Maldives remains pervasive. The committee cited domestic violence, sexual and gender-based violence, abuse and neglect as persistent problems, and said social factors such as stigma and harmful taboos hinder prevention, timely reporting and accountability.

The committee also expressed serious concern over rising mental health issues among children, alongside barriers to accessing adolescent sexual and reproductive health services.

Alongside its findings, the committee issued a series of recommendations to the Maldivian state. It urged authorities to fully implement the National Action Plan for the Prevention and Response to Violence against Children, to prioritise the investigation and prosecution of adults who exploit children, and to strengthen the capacity of law enforcement agencies and social workers to prevent and respond to abuse.

The committee further called for concerted action to tackle stigma and harmful taboos by encouraging reporting and engaging community and island leaders, religious figures and the media.

On mental health, the UN body recommended the adoption of the long-pending Mental Health Bill and the development of a comprehensive child mental health strategy. It also urged the government to continue integrating mental health services into primary healthcare and to adopt a comprehensive adolescent sexual and reproductive health policy. The policy, it said, should include age-appropriate education in the mandatory school curriculum, with particular focus on preventing early pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

The concerns highlighted by the committee are reflected in recent national data. According to the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s December report, negligence was the most commonly reported form of violence against children, accounting for 25 cases. Of these, 10 involved boys, 14 involved girls and one involved a child of unspecified gender.

Physical abuse ranked second, with 15 cases recorded during the month. Thirteen of those cases involved boys, while two involved girls. The ministry also attended to 14 cases of sexual abuse and 11 cases involving children who witnessed domestic violence.

Emotional abuse was reported in six cases, while cyberbullying and bullying accounted for three cases each. The report also recorded two cases each of blackmail, sexual grooming of children and harassment, as well as one case each of exploitation and child abandonment.

Overall, the ministry reported 85 cases involving children in December, including 44 boys, 40 girls and one child whose gender was not specified.