Maldives

Maldives is a group of around 1,200 small islands located in the Indian ocean of which 200 are inhabited with a population of 581,600. The male population is higher at 63 percent compared to women at 37 percent. Population of children between the ages of 0 – 17 is 23 percent. 39 percent of the children in Maldives are Male. Although lower secondary school net enrolment is 90 percent higher secondary school net enrolment is only 45 percent.

Violence against children include child abuse, sexual abuse, online exploitation, bullying, domestic violence and neglect and some children faced gender-based violence (GBV) in their home environments.

Poverty rate is 10 percent in Male while it is much higher at 40 percent in the atolls, hence children sometimes migrate to the capital in search of employment without their parents. 38 percent of women aged 45 to 49, 13 percent between 15 to 49 had undergone Female Genital Mutilation, however the percentage of FGM among girl between the ages of 1 – 14 and 15 – 19 was only 1 percent, indicating that incidents of FGM is declining.