I have been AWOL for some time now. Actually I got engulfed in the CAWM blog and then with the CAWM group on Facebook. The work of several determined and very committed young people coupled with other concerned individuals and civil society partners have fruitioned since the August rape of a school girl on Villingili Beach, eight minutes by ferry from Male’.

Sadly though, justice has still not been served for the Villingili Beach Rape Girl and several others including the children in Goidhoo, Baa Atol. Yet the announcement by the Ministry of Justice of the revisions to the Sharia Regulation (6) Article 173 means that there is an effective deterrant to child abuse.

The question now is, how to make the investigation process transparent, fair and ensure the protection of the dignity of the victims. This is is yet very unclear, because the government (politically motivated) is more concerned about protecting the interests of itself over the rights of the individual.