Gender equality awareness vital - Justice Ministry Secretary

By Kathya De Silva

Gender discrimination and violence against women can be removed from society when children are taught gender equality from childhood, said Justice Ministry Secretary Kamalini de Silva.

"Start from the beginning. Let girls and boys communicate and make them understand that they are partners," she said.The Justice Ministry Secretary was delivering the 23rd Susan George Pulimood Memorial Oration on the topic 'Tears on Glass'; Gender-based violence and trafficking of women, at Visakha Vidyalaya premises recently. The Oration was in memory of Susan George Pulimood who served as Principal of Visakha Vidyalaya for 22 years. She was responsible for changing the direction of education of Buddhist women, enabling them to achieve academic excellence and to serve the country in many diverse fields.

The Secretary said the cause for gender-based violence are patriarchal attitude, power imbalance between men and women, alcohol and drug use, poverty, hierarchy and social order.

She said that issues of violence affect the lives and empowerment of women. "Women comprise over half of the world's population while in Sri Lanka over 50 percent are women. Incidents of rape, sexual abuse, assault, incest, female infanticide and trafficking are being reported in the country," she said.

She said despite the fact the State, NGOs and civil society was providing redress to such issues, violence against women continues unabated while awareness and action against this was insufficient.Secretary de Silva said that women even face violence from other women but such incidents are less compared to violence from men. "Tragically, women face violence mostly from men they know and are close to," she added.

She said UN data shows that 70 percent of women will be beaten during their lifetime while one in four women experience physical and/or sexual violence. Sometimes even during pregnancy. "Although issues are brought to the Police, data does not reveal the full picture," she said.The Justice Ministry Secretary said women most often do not come forward due to the social stigma attached to it and do not speak of crimes against them or seek help as they are victimised by someone close to them. Therefore, the true magnitude of the problem cannot be estimated, she said.

According to a recent survey in the Western Province, 750 women experience some degree of physical violence while five percent experience sexual abuse which is usually repeated, de Silva said. About 58 percent of abused women never come forward due to family reputation and fear of more violence, she said. She highlighted the legal framework regarding violence against women such as Article 12 (4) of the constitution, the Penal Code of Sri Lanka Sections 345, 364, 363 and Prevention of Domestic Violence Act No 34 of 2005. She added that no woman went to Court under the Penal Code and the reasons being that they are culturally docile and women make all efforts to keep the family together especially because of the children.De Silva pointed out that the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act is a significant piece of legislation recognizing violence within the home and ensuring the safety of the victim. It provides protection of the victim from the Magistrate's Court and provides immediate protection of the victim. It also recognizes emotional abuse where the Act defines it as, "a pattern of cruel, inhuman, degrading or humiliating conduct of a serious nature directed towards an aggrieved person."

She added that it is difficult to identify emotional abuse. "Punishments under 'emotional abuse' lay with the victim's ability to prove it," the Secretary said pointing out that it is rather a protective remedy rather than seeking to punish the abuser. The Act also attracts criticism as some allege that the Act contributed to divorce. The Secretary stressed that this Act does not seek to tear down families but aims to empower and protect vulnerable women. It is also an answer to those who trivialize domestic violence as a 'simply family issue'. Speaking on trafficking of women, the Justice Ministry Secretary said it is not limited to women and that it is a modern form of slavery. According to data, four billion people are traded every year and trafficking is mostly reported from South East Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America.

She said that about $ 32 billion is generated through trafficking every year while 27 million men, women and children are trafficked. Illustrating case studies in Sri Lanka, de Silva said people are trapped into trafficking, promising them a better life and giving false promises of opportunities elsewhere.

Most often they are lured by someone they know, she said, adding that they often deceive authorities with false documents. People are sold and resold incurring large sums of money for the traffickers, de Silva added.

The Justice Ministry Secretary pointed out that reasons for trafficking centred around poverty while the growing sex markets and demand for cheap labour are contributory factors.Secretary de Silva said it is important to first accept that domestic violence and trafficking of women exist in society to take action against offenders.