Authorities in the Maldives view women’s issues as a core human rights problem and are keen to tackle them head on, but cultural and religious issues often stand in the way, according to an Inter Press Service report by Feizal Samath.
‘No doubt the government of President Mohamed Nasheed recognises many problems and is willing to tackle them, but there’s limited ability to do so because of deep-rooted cultural and religious issues,’ according to a Maldivian journalist, who declined to be named.
Member of parliament Eva Abdulla, who belongs to Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) — which won power in May 2009, thus ending the 30- year-old reign of dictator Maumoon Abdul Gayoom — said the government firmly believes in affirmative action policies benefiting women.
‘The President has called for gender mainstreaming in both formulating and implementing government policies,’ she said. She stressed, however, that lack of staff and resources are undermining Nasheed’s good intentions.
Particularly worrying, she said, is the growing religious extremism in the Maldives and its impact on the lives of Maldivian women, who comprise around 48 percent of the country’s population of around 340,000.
‘Religion is all too often used as an excuse to limit women,’ she added.
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