98 cases of violence against children including 21 child sexual abuse probed last month

Ministry of Social and Family Development states they investigated 98 cases of violence against children in April including 21 cases of child sexual abuse.

The Ministry disclosed the statistics of cases investigated by the authority in April on Sunday. According to the statistics, the Ministry investigated 98 cases of violence against children, and 32 cases related to family issues.

The 98 cases of violence against children involve 51 girls and 47 boys. The highest percentage of cases of violence against children pertains to neglect at 32, followed by sexual violence/abuse at 21 and physical violence/abuse at 18. This also includes 12 cases of emotional and verbal abuse.

The Ministry also probed 44 cases of gender-based violence and domestic violence.

The Ministry investigated 40 cases in February and 65 cases in March from the complaints filed with the authority. 

Violence against children remains concerningly high in the Maldives with over 300 such cases submitted to the Ministry last year alone.