Parliament of Maldives has passed to pronounce exploitation of juveniles as a separate criminal offence.
The parliament passed unanimously with 69 votes to counsel relevant authorities to bring necessary changes to the laws to pronounce misuse of children as a separate crime.
The report submitted by Parliament Committee on Human Rights and Gender highlighted children need special protection and care. The report said although some laws hold clauses which can be considered as exploitation, no separate laws were established pronouncing exploitation as a separate crime. The report stated despite people exploiting children, such convicts are therefore not charged or sentenced.
During the debate process on the report in the committee, parliamentarians noted exploitation and misuse of children as an issue which needs urgent actions and solutions. They also included in the report to refer to such issues when drafting bills relevant to children which are included in the legislative agenda of the administration as a step to seek solutions for the issue.