This joint submission details our concerns with regard to laws related to rape and other forms of sexual violence and procedures and practices which effectively deny access to justice for survivors of sexual violence, in violation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (‘the Convention’).
Specifically, the Maldives’ legal system provides a number of opportunities for perpetrators of sexual violence to escape criminal liability or punishment, namely through imposing burdensome evidence requirements, failing to criminalize marital rape in all circumstances, and through the way sexual violence crimes are investigated and prosecuted.
Submitted by: Equality Now and Uthema.