Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and Gender has decided to grant relevant authorities a period of one-month to re-establish a Child Protection Database.
At the meeting held to research the case of sexual abuse of a child aged less than two years, the committee decided to share five articles with the speaker of parliament which are to be implemented immediately. In this regard, the committee decided to compile a report to assist and to determine ways to fast-track such cases, and if required to amend and reform the judiciary to mandate courts to complete trials of juvenile cases within a given timeline.
Furthermore, the committee decided to instruct relevant authorities to commence reviewing and monitoring released sexual offenders and those who have a history of sexual assaults. The committee also decided to task relevant authorities in islands to compile a record of child sex offenders and to monitor them within 30-days, and grant the gender ministry a period of 30-days to complete a review of relevant departments.
The committee decided to formulate a criterion to determine families which are of high-risk to danger and to identify families with history of drugs and abuse. The committee also decided the ministry must be notified after evaluating the families predisposed to danger in reference to the existing database within 7 days.
The committee summoned officials from Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Services, Maldives Police Service (MPS) and the Prosecutor General's Office for questioning. The decisions will be forwarded to the Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed for implementation.