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Writer's pictureThrive
Jun 21, 20212 min read

Mauritius

Population size: 

1,265,711 [1]

Number of people experiencing domestic abuse each year:

In Mauritius, this figure is even higher and reveals that 1 out of 4 women is a battered women or victim of some sort of domestic violence.[2]

Corroborating existing evidence, women tend to be over-representative of victims of the physical and sexual forms of abuse. As a matter of fact, the percentage of women who are victims of physical abuse is 5.9% as compared to 1.9% for men. Rather similarly, male victims of sexual forms of domestic abuse make up only 0.2% of the sample as compared to 1.4% for female victims. For emotional forms of abuse, there seems to be just a marginal difference between males and females. Other characteristics of victims of the various forms of abuse are that they tend to be over-representative of the lower educational achievement; lower income as well as lower occupational status backgrounds.

The most predominant form of GBV experienced by women and perpetrated by men in Mauritius occurs within intimate partnerships. Figure 17 shows that 23.8 % of women interviewed in the study reported experience of some form of GBV at least once in their lifetime while 22.9% of men reported ever perpetrating GBV in their lifetime.[3]

No research on male victims or other gender identities.

Cost of domestic abuse to the economy each year:

No research.

Estimated % change due to COVID-19:

A referral pathway was established between the helpline run by the Ministry of Health and the Child Help Line which allowed a direct referral of protection related cases, including sexual and gender-based violence. A total of 169 “serious” calls were receive since the beginning of the epidemic. (May 2020)[4]


Current law and policy:

Mauritius commits to implement National Action Plan. The Government of Mauritius has committed to the implementation of their National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence (2012-2015). The plan’s implementation is being overseen by the National Platform to End Gender-Based Violence, a multi-sector group that includes ministries across government, the police force and legal system representatives, as well as several key civil society organizations.

After consultation, the Ministry of Gender Equality is now working to implement the plan in a coordinated manner. This includes an effort to review, adopt, and enforce laws and policies to ensure that rights are recognized and protected, the introduction of sexual harassment policies in workplaces and schools, as well as training of judicial and law enforcement personnel. Importantly, the plan includes direct services to meet the needs of survivors of gender-based violence, including a 24-hour hotline, and improved access to shelters and counselling services. The plan also has a heavy emphasis on community education and mobilization, targeting all segments of society, including men and boys, to change social norms that may perpetuate gender-based violence.


 

Sources


[1] The World Bank, (1)



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