Two child abuse cases identified via the Maldives Child Protection Database (MCPD) are currently under investigation.

Spokesperson for the government's Covid-19 taskforce, Mohamed Mabrook Aziz made the revelation while speaking at the National Emergency Operations Centre's (NEOC) daily press briefing held on Friday night.

While concerns have been raised regarding child abuse risks amidst the pandemic, the Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Services has assured that their work is ongoing without interruption and that measures to monitor abuse cases have been implemented.

Likewise, Mabrook revealed that the Ministry of Education has been monitoring the household situation of vulnerable children identified via the Maldives Child Protection Database (MCPD).

The education ministry had monitored these vulnerable children every 24 hours through the relevant island council, said Mabrook, adding that two cases have since been discovered and was forwarded to the gender ministry.

Investigations by relevant authorities are ongoing.

Mabrook went onto highlight that the ministry's child protection hotline (1412) is still operational, revealing that operations of the ministry's call centre will be strengthened in joint collaborations with the NEOC.

Further relaying information from the gender ministry, Mabrook stated that the ministry had made preparations - in partnership with the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO), Maldives Police Service (MPS) and the NEOC- to tackle a potential surge in child abuse cases.

Moreover, the ministry states that the capacity of psychosocial services will be increased with help from the Maldives Red Cresent (MCS) if a surge of cases is observed, said Mabrook.

More details about the measures taken by the gender ministry will be shared by gender ministry officials at Saturday night's NEOC press briefing.

Government offices, schools and all educational institutions have been closed for two weeks since March 19th, with public holidays extended until April 7th. This decision was made as a precautionary measure due to fears over the Covid-19 pandemic. With schools all over the globe being closed due to the pandemic, international experts warn of increased child abuse risks due to victims and perpetrators being under self-isolation for long periods of time. The same can be said for domestic violence victims as well.