Source: Mauritius Police Force.

Convicted cases on sexual violence and sexual exploitation 2018–2019

Year	Sexual violence	Sexual exploitation	Total
2018	117	44	161
2019	119	67	186

Source: The Judiciary.

Convicts admitted to prisons for sexual violence and sexual exploitation 2017–2019

Year	Sexual violence	Sexual exploitation	Total
2017	37	4	41
2018	33	10	43
2019	32	10	42

Source: The Mauritius Prison Service.

Number of registered cases of sexual violence reported at Family Support Bureaux 2017–2019

Year	Male	Female	Total
2017	6	45	51
2018	0	26	26
2019	0	15	15

Source: Ministry of Gender Equality & Family Welfare.

Number of registered cases of sexual abuse including incest reported at Child Development Unit 2018–2019

Year	Male	Female	Total
2018	30	331	361
2019	58	398	456

Source: Ministry of Gender Equality & Family Welfare.

11.Moreover, an Inter-Ministerial High-Level Committee on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister has been set up to address the scourge of GBV. The mandate of the High-Level Committee on the elimination of GBV is to:

(a)Assess the current state of affairs with regard to the elimination of GBV in terms of legislative framework and its enforcement, policies, procedures and awareness/sensitisation campaign undertaken; and

(b)To identify problem areas and formulate a new strategy to eliminate GBV.

12.The services of Mr. Jason Meyer, an International Consultant from the United Nations Development Programme, have been retained to come up with a Strategy on Addressing Gender Based Violence. A GBV mobile application is concurrently being developed to ensure rapid response to cases of GBV.

Corporal punishment in all settings

13.Provisions for prevention of corporal punishment in all settings will be included in the revised version of the forthcoming Children’s Bill, which is expected to be introduced in the National Assembly in November 2020.

14.The revised draft Bill includes, inter alia, the following provisions:

(i)“No parent or other person responsible for the care, treatment, education or supervision of a child shall inflict corporal or inflict humiliating punishment on the child as a measure to correct or discipline the child;

(ii)Any person who contravenes subsection (1) shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding 200,000 rupees and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years; and

(iii)“Corporal or humiliating punishment” means any form of punishment which causes pain or suffering to a child through, but not limited to, the use of force or use of substances”.

15.It is worth mentioning that the previous version of the Children’s Bill was introduced in the National Assembly on 17 September 2019.The Bill could not be passed as the National Assembly was dissolved on 06 October 2019 due to General Elections which were held in November 2019. Subsequently, the draft Children’s Bill has been reviewed and consolidated in line with new policy orientations.

Follow-up information relating to paragraph 38 (c) of the concluding observations

16.The definition of the child in the draft Children’s Bill is “a person under the age of 18”. A policy decision is required regarding the repeal of Article 145 of the Civil Code Mauricien allowing the marriage of minors aged between 16 to 18 years:

(i)With parental consent or person having parental authority; or

(ii)In the absence of parental consent, an exemption from the age requirement given by the Judge in Chambers of the Supreme Court will be repealed.

Follow-up information relating to paragraph 40 of the concluding observations

17.The State of Mauritius is committed to addressing Gender Based Violence (GBV) and in this respect, a Gender Based Violence Observatory will be set up. The observatory will draw together all data, both quantitative and qualitative for that purpose. This will offer an intersectional view of GBV across genders, communities and in the implementation of law and policy.

18.With the support of United Nations Development Programme, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Welfare received technical assistance of an International Consultant from Flinders University, Australia, on the setting up of an Observatory on GBV in the Republic of Mauritius. Consultations to that effect were held in Mauritius and in Rodrigues in December 2019 and the Ministry pursuing with the project. It is expected that the Observatory will be set up within one year. The Observatory, once operational, would be the central agency for the investigation and analysis of information with respect to all forms of GBV. It will also be a repository for all published works and reports that deal with GBV, for data collection across organisations dealing exclusively with GBV; and provide a collaborative environment in which institutions, GBV service staff and all those with special expertise in the field would meet on a regular basis to discuss GBV issues arising nationally and regionally.

19.The establishment of a central database is pivotal to the work of the development of the GBV Observatory. A Gender Based Violence Management Information System (GBVIMS) will be implemented to enable harmonisation of data collection by GBV service providers. The intention of the GBVIMS is both to assist service providers to better understand the GBV cases being reported as well as to enable sharing of data across diverse agencies to facilitate broader trends analysis and improved GBV coordination.

20.An amount of RS 1M (USD25000) has been earmarked in the Budget 2020/21 for the setting up of the Observatory on Gender Based Violence. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Welfare is currently finalizing an Expression of Interest to invite Universities/Research Institutions/and other interested parties to submit their proposal for the setting up and operationalization of the Observatory on GBV.