Walking down a crowded street two weeks ago in the Maldives capital of Male’, Lisa*, 25, had one of the most horrific experiences of her life.
Teased, touched and assaulted by two young men on the street, the Australian foreign worker was left deeply upset and stunned over the harassment that occurred in broad daylight.
“I was walking near the swim track when these two boys in their 20s came behind me and grabbed my ass. I screamed and they walked away. I kept walking forward and then suddenly saw the two boys approaching me again. I was really scared because I did not know what they were going to do next,” Lisa recalled.
“They came back, surrounded me and started to pass comments at me. They touched me inappropriately, grabbed me and one of them slapped me,” she continued. It lasted for about 20 seconds I think. I took my phone and warned them I was calling the police. Then they grabbed me once more and just ran off.”
She had travelled from Australia to work in the Maldives just a few months before the incident, and had not expected to face harassment or attack, she said.
In the last few weeks foreign women from diverse nationalities working in Maldives have come forward and told Minivan News about various attacks, ranging from verbal abuse to physical and sometimes sexual assaults.
Clarice*, a 23-year-old French woman, was teased and stalked on the street while she was walking home on March 1.
“I was walking past the artificial beach around 12:30pm in the afternoon. A group of four local boys, maybe in their 20s, started following me. They passed comments like ‘you are my angel’ and one of them grabbed my arm and said ‘oh your skin is so beautiful’. I really did not understand what they wanted and I was really scared because they kept following me,” Clarice explained.
“Because they were following me I went back to the office, instead of going home. I live alone so I was did not want them to find out where I live,” she added.
Clarice decided not to inform police because it was mostly verbal abuse, she said.
Unsafe at home
Meanwhile, several other women interviewed exclaimed that the “threats have extended from streets to homes”.
Katie*, a 34-year old American who has worked in Male’ for almost a year, said she thought she had figured out the Maldives, its culture and its people. Respecting the Muslim background, she said she was sensitive to societal rules, dressed modestly and until recently, thought of Maldives as a safe place.
What changed her impression was a horrific incident last month which a local man sexually assaulted her while she she was unlocking the door of her apartment.
“It was early morning around 4:00am. I was unlocking the door to my house when I felt someone grab my neck from behind. At first I thought it was my friends who had left just seconds ago. But the grip was very firm so I turned around and saw a man wearing white shirt and pants. I screamed at the top of my voice,” Katie recalled.
“He grabbed my breasts, ripped the t-shirt I was wearing. I tried to hit him with my hands, screamed and tried to escape. At that time the door was unlocked and he had pushed me inside. I managed to hit his groin with my feet. That’s when he let go of me and ran out. I tried to follow him but he fled on a motorbike too quickly,” she said. “I was so distraught, I could not even call the police.”
Neighbors who heard her screams called the police. Around five to six officers arrived on the scene with a forensic team.
Disappointed with police
However, according to Katie, the police did not take her statement until three weeks later and then got the details of the attack completely wrong.
“The police had stated my necklace was stolen. It broke off during the attack, I still have it. The attacker must have known the necklace I was wearing was not gold because it was made of multi-colored beads,” Katie pointed out.
She added that she had later found out from CCTV camera owners nearby her house that the police had not requested the footage or interviewed neighbors for clues. Frustrated over the lack of police assistance, she called the US embassy. “I don’t think they would have even taken the statement if the American Embassy had not called them,” Katie claimed.
Lucy, a 36 Irish woman, also talked to Minivan New about an attack, and a disappointing experience with the police, following a robbery and sexual assault she encountered last year.
She was attacked while walking up the flat’s staircase with two other female friends around midnight.
“The apartment was on the sixth floor and I was walking upstairs to my friends apartment. They were couple of steps ahead of me and I was walking up when, suddenly, a man came behind me and grabbed my breasts and tried to pull my clothes,” Lucy recollected.
“I go to the gym and I lift weights. But I couldn’t get him off. He was quite a large and it seemed he was under the influence of something. I hit him with my bag several times. He did not attempt to grab it and run. I think his intention was to pull off my clothes. By then my friends had heard the screams and came running downstairs. That’s when he released me and ran off,” she added.
Lucy however noted that the attack had not affected her as much as when she was robbed just weeks before the attack, and found the robbery to be the “worst ordeal”.
“My laptops and phone was stolen from my apartment. That was the worst ordeal because somebody broke into my room while I was sleeping,” she observed.
Thanks to her strong personality, Lucy said she managed to get over both attacks and visit Maldives again this year. However, she echoed others’ grievances over the lack of support from police.
“When police came to the flat the only response I got from them was ‘this never happens’. They did not take my statement or follow up on me. I don’t think the case was investigated,” she claimed.
Lisa, who earlier spoke to Minivan News, also complained over the lack of police professionalism after she reported the harassment on the street and added that it seemed “police did not the case seriously”.
Police Spokesperson Sub-inspector Hassan Haneef responded that police investigate all the complaints and officers who investigate foreigners cases are skilled and capable in communicating in English: “But we do face difficulties in communicating with Bangladeshi expatriates,” he said.
He noted that it was difficult to state whether harassment of foreign women was on the rise, but confirmed that such cases had been reported.
Haneef also urged women to report such attacks, assuring that complete investigations would be conducted.
Lisa, Clarice, Katie and Lucy say they are awaiting justice and for a day they can walk the streets without being teased, touched or assaulted. A day when they don’t have to be extra cautious on streets, scan around for possible stalkers or triple check their locks.
In the meantime all they ask from the local community is “not to assume we provoked the attacks and step in to help a woman being harassed”.
*Names changed
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The problem exists because women are considered lesser beings than men. The first step to solve the problem is to admit that it exists.
The issue is exacerbated by police being indoctrinated in a belief that they are superior beings.
Finally our courts' with misogynist ill trained unqualified Judges present the third tier against women.
I feel sorry for the local women who unlike foreign women have nowhere else to go.
This could happen in any other country! We've been totally ruined inthe name democracy and freedom, lubna please don't try to make this country a scary place! if you look at united states in evey hour many girls are been brutally raped! so this country is still more safe than rest of those democracies where these foreign workers have been living! the only dificulty in this country is those hooligans who claims to be human rights activists!
Maldivian men are living in sexually deprived society and local women are unable to satisfy them enough which probably is the reason for these kinds of things to happen in the first place!!
Bad news! But nothing new. One cannot agree less with the informant here. This sort of incidents have been taking place in Maldives since, say about, mid nineties. However, the reality is that the pace of occurrence of such incidents have accelerated to many folds during the past three years,in particular, since 8th February 2012, i.e black Wednesday. Who is to be blamed, on these ignominious and shameful ethics of some people of course, has yet to be cleared indeed. May Almighty Allah bestow us with wisdom and unity to salvage our beloved nation from this dreadful and sorrowful dilemma Aameen!
This is about foreigners,there are many such incidents happening everyday with local girls who does not report.
The problem lies not with these women, it is the view Maldivians take. it is fun, it is alright and it is the way we should behave.
For this reason we do not care if someone is harassed or even attacked we just go about doing our business.
Police? who are they? they are also part of us so what better can they do!
Lisa, you forgot to the pay the police. in maldives you have to buy policeman for police work. oh you silly foreigners.
Maybe this type of behaviour is a result of islamist repression? how sad of us to have stopped going about life with few clothes on and used to seeing human bodies in a hot country like ours. This comes as a result of arabization.
Shame on the men who are doing this. Shame on us for who we have become. I wish best of luck to the women - thank you for coming forward. It couldn't have been easy.
This attitude towards women is becoming more common for the Maldivian women, too. Reports say it is rife among police who humiliate, molest and sexually harass women prisoners. It's as if such behaviour is being actively encouraged.
@the pin head....
lubna is not comparing maldives to the united states or any other country for that matter. if you look at the news papers of the US you will see several stories such as this. this is not a competition to be the lesser wicked nation. we should try to be rid of such perverted acts. i think you are one of those people who want to hide these things instead of talking about them and correcting them...you are of those people who will sweep all the dirt under the rug instead of actually cleaning your house...if you can't contribute anything to making things better then shut up and stop discouraging other people...
thanks for reporting it! It was time to do so and : The worst thing is that not only expatriate women experience it- no its also the Maldivian girls- the sad thing around it is that they dont say anything. Maybe they think its normal? Maybe they dont have a voice? Maybe they even get bullied for saying sth?
what a great country is this? The funniest thing is that no body talks about this and our media is busy talking about politics and religion.
My sister lives in the beutiful heart london. Early feb this year she was on her way to the bus station a white guy came from behind and grab her ass and started sexually harassing her. THere were many people arround but nobody dared to help her it went on like that untill a pakistani gentleman came to her rescue. We reported it to police but so far nothing done. There were cctv camera I am 100% sure it will be in it. We are asians so who cares.
“not to assume we provoked the attacks and step in to help a woman being harassed”.
sheikh imran will not accept this. lucy probably provoked someone by being born with the genes for good breasts. her breasts should be fined and declared a public hazard...
Exactly, these are a few reports that have been reported.Many are still to disclose before the public.
Though Maldives is an Islamic country, yet Maldivian find hard to believe immoral trafficking is not a sin[It is serious crime]
I would rather say " the heart's home" for females, Better be with anyone or stay at home. You will ever be free from dishonored
It's the fault of the extremists who constantly preach that women are like animals and that "westerners" are evil. With Islam teachers in public schools telling women to go to the back of the class because it 'is their place', you know the youth is going to grow up screwed. It's not just foreign women that face harassment, there are many Maldivian victims too. The radicals are trying to create an extremely repressed and chauvinistic society where women are treated as anything but equals.
Is this news?
Those gangsters were definitely from MPD (Mad drunk people) activists, it is how they interpret so called "democracy" harassing people are fine for them.This country is spoiled by MDP(Mad Drunk People) it seems this article is more of blaming to the police rather than advocating.
I dont believe this situation will improve for years and its just not that the police are simply incompetent, having dealt with them a few times. I the victim was more afraid with the police than outside with the criminals, because it quickly becomes obvious that not only are the criminals going to get away wit it, its the prevailing sense of apathy and sense of helplessness that they themselves convey, giving me a harsh reminder of a society persistently ALLOWED on the edge of chaos and violence.
YES I BLAME POLICE.... coz they are uneducated tin men from the savage side of the maldives.
they believe on in their fists and officers who promote vayolence.
I got robbed once , police came took fingerprints and left, no news since then. Now i contacted an insider from a group, he found out who robbed us and met the guy , talked to him and got all my stuff back, didnt ask for money , just said sorry, we accepted his plea. ta da no good friends with the robber now, i accept the robber as one who can do good in our society, they will change. beatings only promote vayolence, and people disregard LAW.
In Maldives the police are so currupt that when they actually have to work. like night walks and stuff, they strike!!! they probably are the highest to be paid in the Maldives and do not work...
http://minivannewsarchive.com/files/2010/10/Maldives-Study-on-Womens-Health-and-Life-Experiences-2007.pdf
Not just foreign women Lubna, all women.
Sad and shame for all of us. Our society has lost all dicipline.
The reason why people commit these acts is due to Maldives politics, and the fact that some parties actively badmouth our law enforcement agencies, and promote criminal acts when they are carried out to the favour of that political party.
Take the Joint party protests carried out before Feb 7th. Many criminal activities were conducted, but the political parties involved tried to downplay the acts conducted.
When MDP lost their presidency, a new wave of criminal acts swept Male, with MDP actively promoting criminal acts against police, labelling the police as traitors, and MDP promoting the criminal acts of their party activists such as throwing bricks and setting state buildings on fire. The result was that criminals attacked police openly and were openly defended by MDP as innocent and acting in the interests of the people. When criminals openly conduct violent criminal activities, and politicians openly defend such acts, then criminals are encouraged to use political parties connections to commit even further attacks.
The end result is that the common criminal, who would have been persecuted had he done the slightest act, becomes a powerful political tool (to be utilised in protests against police), with the party failing to admit to or defending the criminal activities. The common criminal thus start to believe that they are above the law and untouchable backed by politicians who will defend their every criminal acts. Other people who see the criminal acts enter into the world of crime.
The situation in Male is now that people disregard the authority of law enforcement, and a disregard for law enforcement police results in more people breaking the law and committing additional criminal activities.
For this situation to improve, political parties must stop trying to rally people against police, and they must stop defending or endorsing criminal acts even if they conducted by their Party members or activists.
Its really a shame that police do not take such cases seriously to the extent where the victim can be happy to note their efforts. But all you see here is their uncaring and irresponsible attitude.
Tragic. Police should investigate such things in detail. The problem is, police is too much corrupted in Maldives and they don't even care about others. They just wanted to be bribed. Hope there will be a justice for the tragic situations in the very near future.
At the person comparing the sexual harassment here to the USA. Here is the difference. Yes, harassment happens in all counties but in the USA and other countries a woman can go her whole life with out being harassed. It happens but it is not the norm. I can assure you that most every expat woman and likely many local woman each have a story or two of being sexually harassed on the streets of Male. It is the norm here and it should not be. It was not bad a few years ago. It has gotten much worse.
This happens in every country. And btw lots of local women too face such gruesome abuse on the streets. Maldivians living abroad too face sexual, racial abuses every day. Minivan is ruled by foreign journalists and it’s not really ethical as a media that you work in the interest of your fellow expats only. Don’t always speak one side of the story. I don’t say that this story should not be published, but why just about expats? Their bosses being unfair, them being assaulted in jail, on the roads, at protests so on and so forth. Why can’t you talk about the perils of the society as a whole? Why can’t you talk about the evils of the whole system? Not very responsible journalism of Minivan I say.
did this happen while they were staying at home?
MDP making fusses over nothing, like usual.
Yes! we are more and more 100% muslims country!!!
just sick society
Minivan news is trying to create a friction between police and public and damage the police reputation.
Guys you got to understand that all these are happening because Anni was releasing all criminals and gang stars create havoc in the country.
Its not the problem with the police and it was the problem with Anni policy .
Again you drag politics into this! @Yasir so you are saying that women should all stay at home and then they will be safe!! This is terrible behaviour and yes it has become the norm here in Male and it must stop. The police should also take these matters seriously as the more its ignored the more it will continue and such terrible behaviour will get worse.
What about all the assaults on women staying on resort islands that go unreported. Just read some of the reports on trip advisor to find out more (especially the island of Vilamendhoo). Avoid the Maldives at all costs!
This is scare tactics to prevent women from attending political rally etc. One of them surely would be a sir!
Shameful but safely the truth!
Sadly the truth!
The 'silly foreigners' attitude expressed in one of the comments above, displays ignorance and undermines the potential of foreign assistance in improving society for women. Foreigners may not understand how the police force operates in Male', but the fact that they will not accept violations of basic civil rights is a good thing for all women, of all nationalities.
Unacceptable and abhorrent behavior only becomes unacceptable when people speak up. This way, slowly but surely, expectations and norms can be changed for the better.
I had bad experience too, when i stayed in hulhumale. i walked near the beach side, it wwas evening arround 5 pm, i brought my small baby too. I saw 3 yougsters were back of me, started teasing me ..
this harrasment not becuz of dress code, i m a malay girl, wearing muslimah dress..but still they teased me with impolite words...
We are a society long isolated from outside world and living with foreigners is a new experience for average Maldivians. Its no surprize women are assaulted, sexually abused by local boys and men given the level of xenophobia and hatred spread starting from our homes to most respected political persons on this nation. we are told when we are kids, foreigners, or white people specifically most of the time are lesser or bad beings. We maldivians do everything right, follow the correct religion etc etc. Women especially are seen as sexual objects. unfortunately this trend of thinking is leading Maldivian women to be treated as sex objects as well.
Most ppl do not grasp the idea of respect for individuality and human rights. i would go so far to even say Many Maldivian men disrespect foreign or white women. they have this strangest idea that those women are without morals, bikini wearing sexmachines. as much as i detest this part of our culture, i understand why ppl are like this. there are deeper issues here and it will take a lot of time and education to solve these issues in Maldives.
or are we maldivians consuming too much porn? what if we switch from white porn to Tamil porn?
These things are committed by Raajethere people. They have now taken over Male' and even the institutions like police. Their mentality has not yet evolved though they use the mobile phones and have Ipads. They have their address in a registry book called Dhaftharu. Leave Male for Male people. You Raajethere go home.
why don't you all go back to the same places you belong to... i bet there stories are a bit diluted with a bit of spice in it
This doesn't happen to foreigner.
Here, in Maldives, the local women and girls are also treated like.
There hasn't been a single day that I have been able to walk in peace without someone verbally attacking me.
I feel so unsafe walking on the roads of Male'.
And the people who do it, they don't even feel ashamed of themselves. They think it's the 'cool' thing to do.
I've heard of many of my friends being verbally and even physically abused on the roads.
The police in Maldives don't take any action. AT ALL.
Its high time the police realize their work should go beyond taking a simple statement.
Since thats all they do, no even reports these incidents anymore.
Its a sad sad story that this has become the norm of the Maldivian society; women being attacked and the 'coolios' getting away with it.
@ kiwi : are horrible incidences that is been reported with sympathy to everyone who has to go through it.. U obviously do not see it that waystop blaming the people from MDP .the mad drunk people r u... a cult sect of police who cannot is crazy n psyco
such things are done by people who doesnt fear Allah. also the chances for such things to happen to women would decrease if they cover themselves properly and stay in their homes unless they need to go out. today the country with the lowest rape rate in the world is saudi arabia. if we also start giving death penalty to rapists, what do you think would happen, the rape rate would increase, stay the same, or decrease? it would surely decrease insha Allah. the real solutions for humanity is in islam.
The Police inaction against their own countrymen when it comes to crime against foreigners is one of the reasons people commit such crimes without fear.Its same with Saudis too.
This kind of things does happen in our Soceity. It doesn't happen to girls only Sometimes boys are also victims. I have all my heart felt Sincere Sympathy toward these Woman. About ten years ago I was Student in CHSE. At that time I was very Shy and quiet boy. I felt especially shy and nervous When I am with strange girls . But once they become my friends I felt O.K. After few months one girl started call me that I am an extremist. I don't know Why ? Maybe because I go to pray during break time .. few other boys also go. Then Why? But never in my life I was an extremist , Never will I be an extremist. Few days later three other girls join her. They Teased me , callig insult to my parents, one girl even touch me , While all the Students. Laught at me. Nobody try to Stop it. Even Our Dhivehi teacher knew it he did nothing to stop them. At that time I also have many family problems. After those incidents I quit going to School. Such is the true face of So called 100% Muslim, 100% one race country. Few among them know and practice true moral teaching in Islam. Few among them show compasion, mercy and tolerance towards others. Infact I met lot people of other faiths and athiests who are more human than most Maldivians.
i suggest more goats around Male' tethered up so local frustrated men with their perms can get off their little mopeds and rape a goat instead - sick the whole lot of them
My very good female friend lives in the beautiful heart Male'(Maldives) Early feb this year she was on her way to home, a police guy came from behind and grab her ass and started sexually harassing her. There were many people (men & women) around but nobody dared to help her it went on like that until another police guy came to her rescue. We reported it to police but so far nothing done. There were cctv camera I am 100% sure it will be in it. We are against "Baghaavaiy" so who cares....!
This is clearly the the actions of druck MDP thugs who were roaming around in the capital City last couple of months.