National study on violence against children in the Maldives : final report

Abstract

This study was the first large scale national study on the issue of physical and emotional punishment as well as sexual abuse of children in the Maldives. Through a phased approach (desk research of existing studies, qualitative interviews and quantitative interviews), a solid and up to date knowledge base on the issue could be obtained. The survey found that violence against children exists at home, at school and in the community. At home the main educational measure taken by caregivers is to explain the child, what it did wrong, followed, however, by emotional punishment, such as threatening the child to hit or scolding. The majority of children below the age of 18 have not been neither physically nor emotionally punished (53%). However, on the other side this also means that 47% of Maldivian children, who have undergone at least one or both kinds of punishment in their lives. The use of emotional punishment is considerably wide-spread and is also supported by the parents’ beliefs that this is an effective way of teaching children the proper behaviour. This form of punishment plays an important role for a sizeable potion of the children from age 3 onwards. Overall, the population of the Maldives is divided over the issue of physical punishment: notions that physical punishment is not particularly efficient could be found throughout the study, leading to an overall lower acceptance of such behaviour. However, it was also found that even opponents of physical punishment have used such measures on their children and that supporters do not use it significantly more, so that this overall mindset can be considered weak. This, and the fact that also students do not see negative effects of this kind of behaviour can be considered to be an indicator for a deeply rooted cultural belief that neither emotional or physical violence is not harmful for children. Although not necessarily leading to the actual use of physical punishment, this mindset can certainly lower the threshold of its application. Generally, boys appear to be more vulnerable to physical punishment than girls, while at home girls attending secondary school reported to have suffered to a large extent from emotional punishment. Although prohibited by law, students reported cases of physical punishment at school perpetrated by the teacher. Generally conflicts are being solved by talking calmly to the child. On the other side, 8% of the students attending secondary school, mostly boys, stated to have been hit on at least one occasion by their teacher. The majority of students, who enter an argument with their teacher, also declared that they would talk back to the teacher, a minority even to threaten to hit the teacher or throw something at him or her. Especially the last two forms of behaviour have the potential to initiate a vicious circle of hostility between the students and the teachers. Nearly 20% of students attending secondary school indicated to be afraid of a gang or other children in the community. For a significant part, girls attending secondary school in Male’ feel more insecure in their communities: almost half of them indicated that they are afraid of a gang. Being asked of what children and adults would do to children in the community, at least one in four students (25%) attending secondary school in the Atolls revealed that they have been hit by other children or adults in the last year on at least one occasion, as opposed to every seventh (14%) in Male’. When being victimized either physically by another child or sexually by an adult, the children signalled that they would inform their parents or their friends. When asked, what the parents would do when aware of a case of abuse in the community, the majority did choose to not inform the authorities, not cause any trouble and/or due to limited belief in the efficiency of the system. As parents are the main go to persons for the children their reactions are critical for the follow up of the case. Nationwide, 15% of children attending secondary school, reported that they have been sexually abused at least once in their life. Indeed the prevalence rates of girls are double as high as the ones of as boys (20% vs. 11%, respectively). Specifically Male’ turned out to be a place where an increased risk for girls to become victims of sexual abuse exist. Overall, the Protective Environment was found to suffer gaps in most of the eight elements. The majority of gaps seem to have their foundation in the cultural background of the Maldivian society, which does not particularly prohibit emotional or physical punishment of children. While there is a high awareness of the community on the issue, the evolving open discussion is hampered by the notion that such events should be solved in the home and not discussed publically. In the area of sexual abuse another large obstacle is the legal system: the victim itself might turn out to be made liable for such an event and might be subjected itself to penal proceedings if the perpetrator does not plead guilty or four witnesses for the prosecution cannot be found. Therefore, it is recommended to start improving the Protective Environment by educating caregivers (preferably at childbirth and through a nationwide campaign) and teachers about effective non-violent educational practices to build up basic protective mindsets and a minimal cultural consensus. As attitudes themselves might become corrupted without a sound foundation, such educational measures should also provide the target groups with facts about the negative effects of violence in children.