You are not alone
WIN assists national programme of violence against
women:
by Rosanne Koelmeyer Anderson
[email protected]
Many women think the beatings or verbal abuse they receive from their
husbands is normal and very often accepted as part of their marriage;
they go against all odds to stay in the marriage or relationship as the
stigma is inconceivable: some even believe it is part of everyday life,
fate or karma until they are on the verge of collapse, on the brink of
suicide or mentally ill health.
 But, breaking the silence, the one stop crisis centre, the arm that
assists the helpless and the hopeless, is the Women in Need (WIN) with
seven crisis centers around the country, six hospital centres and two
police centres working tirelessly to provides crisis counselling and
psychological support for victims of violence and their families, legal
aid and even temporary shelter free of charge for battered women in Sri
Lanka.
Awareness programmes on preventive measures that could be taken at a
given time, awareness programmes for community based organizations and
law enforcement officers are also some areas where WIN steps in to make
a difference in the lives of many.
WIN situated at 122, Cotta Road, Borella works in collaboration with
the Ministry of Women's Affairs, the National Committee of Women, the
Child Protection Authority, The Police Desks set up at Police stations
to handle abuse of women and children and six main hospitals around the
country: at the Emergency Unit of the National Hospital, Colombo, the
Castle Street Hospital and De Soyza Hospital for women in Colombo, the
Peradeniya Teaching Hospital, Badulla General Hospital, Anuradhapura
General Hospital, Kurunegala Teaching Hospital providing consultation
facilities at the hospitals. The seven crisis centres are located in
Colombo, Matara, Kandy, Kurunegala, Badulla, Anuradhapura and Jaffna
Executive Director and member of the National Committee of Women,
Savithri Wijesekera told the Sunday Observer.
"In Sri Lanka the prevalence of domestic violence is the highest. The
Domestic Violence Act was passed in 2005 and marital counselling five
years ago was around 65 per cent where husbands would come to the crisis
centre for help. However, over the past year the turnover has dropped to
52 per cent', she said.
But there are between 8-30 cases a day while in 2007 WIN had handled
40,000 clients and issues pertaining to rape, sexual abuse and assault,
domestic violence, divorce incest and also offers legal aid to women and
children in need, with a 24 hour hot line 4718585 at their service.
' We help women to gain courage to walk into a Police Station and
make a statement and report the crime, how to get away from an abusive
person and support oneself adequately and seek assistance from WIN and
handle referrals from supportive organizations such as the Sri Lanka
Sumithrayo on their hotline 2692909, Sarvodaya on their 24 hour hotline
2649711,Women's Bureau of Sri Lanka on 2595841 or the Women's
Counselling Centres of the Ministry of Women's Affairs on 2598371 or
2591297', the Director explained.
The Police have been very supportive and for International Women's
Day they even helped with the sticker campaign organized by WIN on
harassment which read 'Real men don't commit violence against women' at
Alexandra Place, Colombo. Abuse can come in many forms, the most common
being rape, sexual harassment, domestic violence and incest .
However, abuse is not always physical, it can be verbal and emotional
which could affect persons just as bad.
Verbal abuse could amount to using one's privilege to control , using
threats that are carried out with the intent of financial or emotional
injury, blackmail or humiliation, intimidation or isolation while
emotional abuse can include all intentional attempts to minimize the
victim's concerns and to make them feel bad. So be sensitive to your
rights for you are not alone. |
