MALDIVES
MALDIVES
PREVALENCE OF MARRIAGE BY AGE 15
FEMALE
0%
MALE
N/A
PREVALENCE OF MARRIAGE BY AGE 18
2%
2%
Year of data:
2016-17
Source:
DHS 2016-17
Year of data:
2016-17
Source:
DHS 2016-17
LEGAL AGE OF MARRIAGE
18
18
LOWEST PERMITTED AGE OF MARRIAGE DUE TO EXCEPTIONS IN THE LAW
18
18
Law(s) which govern marriage and/or child marriage:
Children's Rights Protection Act 2019
ABOUT THE LAW AND ANY EXCEPTIONS
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.
CAN MARRIED OR PREGNANT GIRLS GO TO SCHOOL?
No explicit law prevents or protects the right to education for married, pregnant, or parenting girls.