No connection RF DK/NA Male 29.17% 10.42% 29.69% 0.52% 1.30% 28.91% Female 36.04% 10.52% 30.15% 0.56% 0.98% 21.74% Total 33.70% 10.63% 29.88% 0.54% 1.09% 24.16% Yes No Sometimes Table 14: Perceived conflict between Islamic views and human rights, by gender There is no change in the number of respondents who said there is no connection between Islam and human rights (1.00%) while the response rate to the question has also not improved (15.9% in 2011 compared to 25.2% in 2019). This is a significantly worrying change in perception and one that demands strengthened policy and programmatic interventions. Similar to 2011 findings, more women (36.0%) than men (29.2%), were of the opinion that human rights are incompatible with Islam. There is significant decrease in respondents who said human rights and Islam were compatible (45.0% in 2011 to 29.9% in 2019). This holds true with all sexes. The number of women agreeing with compatibility between Islam and human rights decreased from 41.0% in 2011 to 30.2% in 2019, while the figure for men fell from 49.0% in 2011 to 29.7% in 2019. It is also to be noted that men (30.2%) appeared more hesitant to respond to this query in comparison to women (22.7%). No connection RF DK/NA Outer island No Table 15: Conflict between Islamic views and human rights, by region Sometimes There is an increase in the number of people who believe human rights are incompatible with Islam (from 29.6% in 2011 to 33.7% in 2019), while a decline is observed in the those who think it is compatible (from 45.6% in 2011 to 29.9% in 2019). Over a third (35.6%) of the respondents living in urban regions were of the belief that there are no conflicts between human rights and Islam, while 26.4% of those from outer islands subscribe to this view. This shows a significant decline in the number of respondents living in urban regions who believe there is no conflict between human rights and Islam from 2011 (54.0%). Over a third (34.0%) of the respondents from outer islands stated that they believed human rights and Islam are in conflict and hence incompatible. Yes Given the significance of perception on successful implementation of policies and interventions, HRCM decided it was important to understand how people perceived the relationship between Islam and human rights to facilitate the effective implementation of Human Rights in the Maldives. As the findings from other chapters show, attitudes on women and family life appear to have a significant correlation with religion. An additional factor considered was the high non-response rate from the 2011 survey on questions pertaining to Islam and human rights; this prompted the inclusion of these questions in this survey. 34.02% 10.46% 26.36% 0.74% 1.77% 26.66% Urban 33.18% 10.90% 35.55% 0.24% 0.00% 20.14% Total 33.70% 10.63% 29.88% 0.54% 1.09% 24.16% Among those who considered human rights to be non-compliant with Islam, 50.0% were from the 60-69 age group. Interestingly, the greatest number of people who thought human rights and Islam are compatible were over 70 years of age (41.7%). This age group is also the lowest (25.0%) to report that there is conflict between human rights and Islam. It is notable that over a third (36.2%) of the respondents who think human rights and Islam are not compatible belong to the age group of 20-29 years. Among migrant workers, 15.5% believe human rights to be compatible with Islam. However, it is to be noted that most migrant workers (75.3%) did not respond or know the answer to this query. Those who replied that human rights are not compatible with Islam were further queried about the reasons for their stance. Close to a half of the respondents believed that human rights are not compatible with Islam because the punishments for offences prescribed in Islam conflict with principles of human rights. Several people also said it is problematic that human rights impede the implementation of death penalty. There were worrying responses from a considerable number of people who felt that gender equality and child rights are not compatible with Islam. It is more concerning that most of these respondents were women. 27