Hope for Women has expressed concern about the portrayal of domestic violence in Maldivian media, following the publication of a controversial article this week regarding the sexual abuse of minors.
“At a time where the epidemic of sexual abuse has thoroughly established its claws in the society of Maldives, we are currently witnessing a media determined to re-victimize the victims of this tragedy,” said the women’s rights NGO.
The article in question, published by online news outlet Sun Online, suggested that underaged girls were abusing elements of the Child Sex Abuse (Specials Provisions) Act in order to engage in prostitution.
“Even if the girl is addicted to sex in prostitution cases, no action is usually taken against her,” read the article, which then suggested that some girls engage in prostitution due to an addiction to sex.
“The girl who engages in prostitution should also be arrested and brought to justice in the same way the person who pays for it is,” it continued.
“And that girl should not be released back into the society after the case is taken to the court, until a verdict is reached. Otherwise it is possible to see many such cases from her before the initial case reaches a verdict.”
Quoting a criminal lawyer named Adam Asif, the article said that there are cases where some girls accuse their family members of child abuse when they disagree with her choice of boyfriend.
Hope for Women have described the article as “irresponsible journalism” and its tone “very offensive”.
“The article blames the victims and instead of getting a fair public opinion, it deprives the rights of these victims and demeans their prestige and reputation. By focusing on the perpetrator, the article failed to fathom the grievance of the actual matter,” said the NGO.
“Hope for Women harshly condemns all such reports on media re-victimizing the victims.”
Reports of child prostitution in the Maldives were aired publicly for the first time last year by the then Minister of Family, Gender, and Human Rights Azima Shukoor.
“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,” said Azima.
Speaking with Minivan News shortly after this news, clinical psychologist Dr Aishath Ali Naaz explained that child prostitution had become so “common” in some parts of the country that the underage victims considered it “normal”.
The practice, believed by multiple sources interviewed by Minivan News to be prevalent across the Maldives, ranges from male benefactors grooming children with ‘gifts’, to parents actively selling the sexual services of their children – some as young as 12.
A former island chief explained to Minivan News that there have been cases of middle aged or elderly men providing financial support to young girls for basic necessities “and then taking advantage of the position [of benefactor].”
Reported cases typically involved low income families “with four or five children,” he said, with adolescent girls aged 16-17 often targeted.
Hope for Women concluded it’s statement by calling for responsible authorities to monitor sensitive media reporting in order to “enhance justice” for survivors of violence.
“Also, we call every individual and the relevant authorities to take all the measures to prevent all forms of reporting that are misleading and irresponsible written on domestic violence.”
“We reiterate the fact that we all have a critical role to play, governments, independent institutions, civil society, young people, the media, religious groups and the corporate sector and most importantly, individuals for zero tolerance to domestic violence,” said Hope for Women.
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Women leaders are plentiful when it comes to shouting on streets. But when it come to combatting child abuse, they are voiceless
Why?
The guy who wrote the article on sun is a turd,
South asia is really falling apart when it comes to respect for women.
Chivalry is dead
This NGO must be funded by foreign Jewish Christian missioneries. Sun newspaper editor Hiriga Zahir, aligned to former dictator Gayoom's family, is doing his duty as a good Muslim by aligning with the Islamist Yameen. Why does HFW see this as a problem? Should we allow fornication to continue? Isn't it better to marry off all these children, no doubt perverted by the Devil himself, so that they can marry our trusted and wisdomic elders and lead thaahiru dhiriulhun dignified lives? What's wrong with that? Why did Minivan News have to publish HFW's blasphemous comments? I support Hiriga 100 percent. If we need gangsters and dictators to protect our 100 percent Islamic status, I don't see anything wrong with that. After all people voted for Yameen, no? That should be evidence enough.
The problem is that Maldives are a very Isolated and small nation and as many small isolated nations has many minority complexes, to maintain a vision of glory trying to highlight depression of normal humanitarian principles’ that the modernized and civilized world has left hundreds of years ago, spreading differences in their population and discrimination of some human being . Similar to what you see in al-Qaeda, North Korea, some African countries. Etc. I don’t see this comes from the new government, but has sneaked into the country over some years. The new government seems to function good , but should look into it .
http://www.sun.mv/42525
At least acknowledge when they try to rectify the situation. This article was a lot better.
But as usual the tools on minivan would sensationalize anything,
This second Sun Online article was published three days after the Minivan News article.
@Daniel Bosley
At least you had the integrity to acknowledge the existence of the second article, thank you.