Recommendation • Take Measures to expedite the implementation of Anti‐Human Trafficking Act. Article 7: Political and Publiclife Concluding Observation: Withdrawal of reservations to CEDAW Article 7(a) that bars women from running for the presidency and vice‐presidency, and Article 16 on revisions to the law on marriage and family relations (CO_2007/3, para. 12) Concluding Observation: Undertaking effective measures to increase the number of women in decision‐ making, political and public life (CO2007/3, para. 24) 34. The reservation on Article 7(a) has been removed with the ratification of the new constitution in 2008. 35. Although there are no direct discriminations by any legislation, women face a lot of social and cultural barriers and stigmatization in running for a public office. The second baseline human rights survey "Six Years On ‐ The Right Side of Life" conducted by HRCM has shown that views of women slightly increased in favour of women participating in political life from 79.0% to 80.5%. However the views of men have significantly dropped from 72.9% to 57.6%, showing the changes of view on the equality of women's participation.17 The charts below show the participation and representation of women in public life. Figure 1: Percentage of women’s representation + Source:Ritchie M, &Rogers T A,& Sauer L (2014).Women’s Empowerment in Political Process in the Maldives. International Foundation for Electoral Systems: Washington Page 11 of 35