The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM), in collaboration with concerned authorities and civil society organisations, launched an awareness week to mark the ‘World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse’ (19 November 2008).

The slogan for this awareness campaign “Prevention of Child abuse - My responsibility” highlights the spirit of this annual event and emphasizes the role of every individual in protecting the future of the nation.

Speaking at the function the President of the HRCM, Mr. Ahmed Saleem, said that child abuse is a universal and an alarming problem which requires increased attention. He said that seven million child abuse cases were reported in the world last year but that remedies were not available to 60 per cent of these cases. He also stated that emotional and psychological abuse are as threatening to the wellbeing of children as physical and sexual abuse.

According to Ministry of Health and Family, 316 child abuse cases were reported in the Maldives last year. Ms.Nazima Abdul Gadir from the Ministry said that child pornography and social networking on the internet were threats that parents and guardians needed to pay a special attention to. She said that our purpose should not only be to reduce child abuse but to bring an end to it.

Speaking on behalf of civil society organisations, Mr. Mohamed Shihab of Child Abuse Watch Maldives stated that we should work to protect the rights of the child everyday and that it should not be limited to just an occasion. He said that we need to ensure that every child has faith that their rights would be protected. Through the activities planned for the week, civil society groups would seek a commitment from the concerned authorities and society at large that the rights of the child would be protected.

Date: 13 November 2008

Source: HRCM website