MALDIVES

The 2019 Children's Rights Protection Act made 18 the legal age of marriage without exceptions. However, the Maldivian Constitution states that 'No law contrary to any tenet of Islam shall be enacted in the Maldives', which would give Sharia law precedence over national laws.

In 2019, a high-profile child marriage case effectively put the law to the test. A rapist had been found to have married his victim, who was aged 12-13 years old at the time, and subsequently fathered a child with her. All of this was done with the knowledge and apparent consent of the victim's family. Despite criticisms of the police, who had been perceived to be slow to act, the rapist and the victim's parents were arrested, and the perpetrator was eventually sentenced to 14 years imprisonment.