Source: Ministry of Gender, Family and Human Rights 175. State should document and verify all the essential data of a child at a disaggregated level by all the relevant stakeholders dealing with child rights issues to enhance effective coordination amongst them. The State should establish a monitoring mechanism to ensure that all children are registered and have access to birth certificates. 176. Article 35 of the present Constitution stipulates that children and young people are entitled to special protection and special assistance from the family, the community and the State. The article further states children and young people shall not be harmed, sexually abused, or discriminated against any manner and shall be free from unsuited social and economic exploitation. The Law on Protection of the Rights of the Children (9/1991) in Article 25 elaborates on prohibition of exploitation of children and acts detrimental to the integrity of the child. Parliament also passed a legislation on Special Measures Against Perpetrators of Child Sexual Abuse in Maldives (12/2009) in November 2009, to address gaps in the existing legal framework to curb the grave issue of increasing child sexual abuse in the Maldives. This Act provides for the conviction of offenders for up to twenty five years of imprisonment and also denies alleged perpetrators the right to remain silent, which otherwise is permitted in the Constitution. 177. HRCM conducted a policy review on the legislations protecting and promoting the rights of the children in 2011.The objective of this review was to identify legislative gaps in protecting and promoting rights of the child from a human rights perspective. Following are the legislative gaps identified with regard to protecting and promoting the rights of the child. Chapter: Article 24: Rights of the Child Challenges faced to the Protection of Child 67

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