The Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Service received and attended a total of 156 cases, including 92 cases of violence against children, during September alone.

The ministry publicized statistics for the ninth month of the ongoing year, revealing that the authority received and attended a total of 156 cases involving 68 boys and 88 girls.

These include cases of violence against children, domestic violence, gender-based violence, family issues, care and support issues, behavioral problems and child rights violations among others.

47 of the 156 victims were between the ages of 10 – 13, 40 between the ages of 14 – 16, 30 between the ages of 6 – 9, 25 between the ages of 2 – 5, eight above 17 years of age and six under a year old.

Looking at the places of incidence, five of these cases were reported from Haa Alif atoll, three from Haa Dhaal atoll, 10 from Raa atoll, three from Alif Alif atoll, seven from Alif Dhaal atoll, one from Thaa atoll, 10 from Gaaf Dhaal atoll, 14 from Addu City, four from Gaaf Alif atoll, five from Laamu atoll, one from Meemu atoll, 77 from capital Malé City, nine from Kaafu atoll, four from Lhaviyani atoll, one from Noonu atoll and two from Shaviyani atoll.

92 cases of violence against children were reported to the ministry in September 2023.

These include 23 cases of sexual abuse involving 18 girls and five boys, 15 cases of physical abuse involving 12 boys and three girls, three cases of emotional abuse involving two boys and one girl and 20 cases of neglect involving 13 boys and seven girls.

Further, two girls are to have fallen victim to cases of blackmail in the past month, with one boy and one girl having been exploited.

Three girls and three boys were reported as victims of harassment and 11 girls and five boys were reported to have witnessed domestic violence.

Four victims of bullying were also reported, including three girls and a boy.

One other case is included among the cases linked to violence against children.

Out of the 23 behavioral problems filed with the ministry, eight children refused to attend school, including five girls and three boys.

Five girls and two boys are to have thrown temper tantrums, four girls and one boy are to have run away from home and three other children are involved in other cases linked to behavioral problems.

The ministry also reported three child rights violation cases, with two girls having been refused to her right to be vaccinated and the parents of one girl having refused to send her to school.

25 family issues were also attended by the ministry in September including nine boys and four girls trapped with parenting issues, one boy whose parents had a maintenance issue and six girls and one boy with parents who had issued with access to their children.

13 other types of cases were also reported involving 10 girls and three boys, however, the ministry did not provide the details of the nature of these cases.

During September the ministry’s child helpline 1412 received 1,637 calls including 623 follow-up calls on reported cases, 149 calls seeking information, 44 to report new cases, 153 silent calls, 63 prank calls and 605 others. The caller identification of 657 phone calls remains unknown. 19 children and 961 adults are to have made the remaining phone calls.

Statistics go on to indicate that 164 children were under state care by the end of September, including 93 boys and 71 girls.

Three girls and one boy were reintegrated with families and one boy was newly taken into state care. One girl was placed with a foster family during September.

One male was also transferred under the mandate of the Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Services as an adult.