On 1st September, “Project Guardian” was launched by the Maldives Police Service, a project relevant to the police’s responsibility in ending all forms of violence against women and children.
When we have a look at the monthly crime statistics by Maldives Police, domestic violence has decreased in October compared to September by nearly a half. There was a drop from 24 cases to 14 cases.
Since June 2020, domestic violence cases reported have been over 20 and in July there were 31 cases.
What exactly is domestic violence? It is not physical violence alone. Domestic violence is any behaviour the purpose of which is to gain power and control over a spouse, partner, girl/boyfriend or intimate family member. Abuse is a learned behaviour; it is not caused by anger, mental problems, drugs or alcohol, or other common excuses.
Statistics reveal that so far in 2020, 204 cases of domestic violence have been reported. However, the biggest crime in the Maldives according to the numbers is theft, which currently stands at 2882 cases.
