Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and Gender has asked Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Services to establish a registry within 7 days identifying high-risk children.
Following a case of the rape of a two-year-old girl in an island, several points were noted in a report compiled by the committee. The committee noted negligence of several government institutions, as well as Kanduhulhudhoo Island Council.
In this regard, the committee proposed 7 points, including the establishment of a registry for children and families in danger of being abused and arranging a mechanism to monitor the situation of such families regularly from February 22. The proposal by the committee requires gender ministry to gather information on such families through local councils and to include the information in the registry within 30 days from January 28.
Furthermore, the parliamentary committee requested the ministry to identify individuals who have been accused or charged of pedophilia and have been released to the society. The committee stated the ministry must arrange a mechanism to monitor such individuals within 30 days from January 19.
The ministry has also been asked to conduct a performance audit of institutions responsible for investigating cases involving child abuse and providing protection to children. Additionally, the gender ministry has also been tasked with reactivating the Maldives Child Protection Database, which was established in 2009.