The pattern repeats across generations
The women interviewed were often, in childhood, children in unstable or violent homes themselves, and what they absorbed then shaped how they entered marriage. A cited 2022 study found 69% of participants whose parents had divorced showed an anxious-preoccupied attachment style. Caseworkers described a girl absorbing being abused as what being a wife is, and a boy absorbing being abusive as what being a husband is.
The warning signs are in the case data
Recorded cases of self-harm and suicidal behaviour among Maldivian children rose from 46 in 2021 to 157 in 2025 – an increase of 340% in four years – and girls made up 76% of them. Family issues cases, covering custody, access, and maintenance matters alongside parenting disputes, reached 371 in 2025.
Remarriage adds its own risks
Third and fourth marriages are rising, which brings more children into stepfamilies – where the research records children of an earlier marriage being treated as lesser once a stepparent begins to differentiate between them and the couple’s own children, with lasting effects.
Key facts
- Recorded self-harm and suicidal behaviour cases among Maldivian children rose 340% in four years, from 46 in 2021 to 157 in 2025.
- A cited 2022 study found 69% of participants with divorced parents showed an anxious-preoccupied attachment style.
- Girls made up 76% of recorded child self-harm and suicidal behaviour cases in 2025.
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