The Maldives
Population: 345,023
Estimated prevalence among women aged 15-49: Unknown
There have been no studies - local or national - conducted in the Maldives to estimate the
prevalence of FGC in the country. It is therefore difficult to understand how widespread FGC is, and
thus action to support the abandonment of FGC is inhibited.
Type practised:
Just like with the prevalence rate, there have been no studies conducted to understand what the
most commonly practiced form of FGC is in the Maldives and so the types of FGC practiced are
unknown. If we infer information from neighbouring FGC-practicing countries, it may be assumed
that types I, II and IV are the most widely practiced.
Legal status:
FGC is legal in the Maldives, and is actively encouraged by leading figures.
History of FGC:
It is believed that FGC was practised in the Maldives until the 1990s when it died out. However, due
to the resurgence of Islam in the country, FGC has proliferated. The resurgence of Islam is a result of
the fact that the Maldives only has one university, and therefore young boys would often go to the
nearby Pakistan and Saudi Arabia for their education. Upon completion of their studies in private
religious schools, they would return to the Maldives with a more conservative Islamic vision. These
young men then grew older and more important in society, which has subsequently led to the
situation present today, where the Maldives is a central Islamic country. Notably, non-Muslims
cannot be Maldivian citizens, and are not able to enjoy any of the benefits of the state. Instead, they
are ostracised from the community and are subjected to much abuse.
The once matriarchal society is therefore coming under the new radical Islam, where interpretations
are typically based on highly literalist and austere interpretations of Islam. This archaic form of
religious conservatism is also being backed by the neighbouring Islamic countries, and therefore the
Maldives are considered a leading example in regards to how to live with the teachings of
Mohammad. Radical Muslims have been gaining political ground since former autocratic President
Maumoon Abdul Gayoom began to woo them to oppose the more liberal anglophile Mohamed
Nasheed, who succeeded him in the 2008 presidential election after three decades of unchallenged
rule, but resigned in 2012.
FGC has become the practice/symbol that differentiates Muslims from non-Muslims. Women have
wholly experienced the negatives of the new radical shift, where they are considered second class
citizens to men. For example, in August 2013 a 15-year-old girl was given a sentence of 100 lashes
for having pre-marital sex. The girl had been repeatedly raped by her stepfather while growing up,
and her stepfather had also killed a baby she had given birth to from the rape. These judgements are
concurrent with the treatment of women in the Maldives, and seek to explain the resurgence of FGC
in recent years.
Current efforts to abandon FGC:
In December 2009, reports of FGC’s proliferation surfaced and the then Attorney General Husnu
Suood raised concern about it. ‘According to my information, the circumcising of girls has started
and is going on with a new spirit,’ he said. In addition, President Mohamed Nasheed conceded an
emergent religious fundamentalism had changed the way women were viewed, and treated, in his
country. He said he was distressed by religious groups who campaigned for girls to be circumcised or
to be kept home from school. However, nothing has been done to combat the spread of FGC, and it
still remains a legal practice.
Quilliam is the world’s first counter-extremism think tank set up to address the unique challenges of
citizenship, identity, and belonging in a globalised world, standing for religious freedom, equality,
human rights and democracy. They have recently spoken about their concern over the rise of FGC in
the Maldives. Their Senior Researcher in Islamic Studies, Dr Usama Hasan, said: ‘FGM has no Islamic
sanction – there are just two traditions on the subject, both of which are strongly disputed, with
many jurists throughout history discounting them as having nothing to do with the Prophet of Islam,
but, like the blasphemy and apostasy laws of medieval Islam, FGM became a theoretical juristic
position even though it was rarely practiced. Contemporary Muslim scholars are increasingly
opposed to and dismissive of FGM’.
The UN in the Maldives through offices of UNFPA, UN Women and the Office for the High
Commission for Human Rights jointly promote women’s rights in the context of Islam. Building on
initiatives from 2013, UNFPA claims that it is committed to work with the partners to end harmful
practices including violence against women and FGC.
Ongoing challenges:
The Maldives follows the Shafa’I school of Islam, which is the only one of the four Sunni schools that
makes FGC a compulsory religious obligation. Many imams promote FGC, and their endorsement
holds significant influence, especially on the outer lying islands.
The most influential FGC endorsement came from the Vice President of the Figh Academy and
political candidate for the Muslim Brotherhood offshoot, the Adhaalath Party, Dr Mohamed Iyaz
Abdul Latheef. This came about as he entered a Q&A on the online Islamic forum, mvislamqa.com,
and a reader asked him his opinion of FGC. Dr Latheef resorted to the Quran for justification, arguing
that there are several credible hadiths from the Prophet Mohamed that demonstrate that FGC is
obligatory in Islam. According to Latheef, FGC is one of the five things that are part of fitrah, or
nature, with the other four: ‘shaving the pubes, trimming the moustache, cutting the nails and
plucking the armpit hairs’.
Shadiya Ibrahim, member of the newly formed Gender Advocacy Working Group and a long-time
campaigner for women’s rights, said Maldivian society was growing more oppressive towards
women. “Being a woman is harder now. The religious Wahhabist scholars preach more forcefully
than anyone else can. They have this backing of religion as a tool. There are two hadiths in the Sunan
collections (medium-level authenticity) relevant here. To paraphrase, these two hadiths say, “Cut,
but don’t cut too much” and “Female circumcision is a way of honouring (!) Women.”
Major languages:
Dhivehi (Official)
Major religions:
Islam – 100%
Resources:
http://leftfootforward.org/2014/03/calls-for-the-introduction-of-fgm-in-the-maldives-should-worryall-of-us/
http://www.lapidomedia.com/node/3987
http://www.quilliamfoundation.org/press-releases/quilliam-condemns-calls-for-the-introduction-offgm-in-the-maldives/
http://www.secularcafe.org/showthread.php?t=29146
http://www.stopfgmmideast.org/maldives-cleric-calls-for-fgm-on-islamic-grounds/
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/01/maldives-fears-of-resurgence-of-female-genital-mutilation
http://www.smh.com.au/world/female-circumcision-fear-as-fundamentalists-roll-back-womensrights-20120124-1qflv.html
http://www.haveeru.com.mv/news/28292
http://minivannews.com/politics/figh-academy-vp-endorses-female-genital-mutilation-77037
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2619581
http://counterjihadreport.com/2012/01/26/female-circumcision-in-the-maldives-the-islamicmovement-and-islamophobia/
http://unity1.wordpress.com/2014/03/19/hadiths-on-female-circumcision-fgm/
http://www.meforum.org/3278/maldives
http://www.unwomensouthasia.org/2014/international-day-of-zero-tolerance-to-female-genitalmutilation-2/
http://sheikyermami.com/maldives-female-circumcision-fear-as-fundamentalists-roll-back-womensrights/
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2012/0427/Maldives-hailed-as-democracyposter-child-turns-to-Islamist-fundamentalism