Ensuring equality, a collective effort
'We have a long way to go':
By Sajitha PREMATUNGE
[email protected]

Ferial Ashraff,
Minister of Housing and Common Amenities
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During a previous ESCAP (United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific) conference held in Bangkok,
commemorating International Women's Day, a westerner said that he was
pleasantly surprised to see how well women are treated at Sri Lankan
garment factories, as opposed to East Asian countries. But as another
session of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Steering Committee
was held in Kualalumpur last month, it was apparent that much more needs
to be done. As the first Sri Lankan parliamentarian - endowed with the
prestigious position of representative, Asia region - Ferial Ashraff,
Minister of Housing and Common Amenities, was confident of what was
expected of her.
She, with much modesty and pride, recalled the fact that the
Committee on Women and Gender Issues had been established back in the
1990s and the first Chairperson was Shrimanee Athulathmudali. But the
Asia region has always been represented by one of the big countries like
India and Pakistan.
This was the first time in history a woman parliamentarian was
selected to represent the Asian Region. "You learn a lot about what is
happening in the rest of the world." said Minister Ferial Ashraff,
reminiscing her experience.
"Being in that Committee - discussing the problems women face the
world over - was a real eye opener. It was like crying over a pair of
shoes, until you see a person without legs."
The minister said that the issues brought out at the meeting were so
shocking. And inspite of all the 'disadvantages' of being a Sri Lankan,
that people often complain about, she said that one feels glad about
being a Sri Lankan woman. The Minister pointed out that, among all the
negatives - compared with other countries - Sri Lankan women are lucky.
"We have to give that credit to our motherland."
Moreover, the Minister acknowledged the work done by women activists
in Sri Lanka, towards the upliftment of women's living standards. "Being
a politician I do not represent all women. Parliamentarians take it up
in the parliament, but it's the women activists who actually go out into
the field and put the theories into practice. And for that they need to
be commended."
She pointed out the fact that the free education in Sri Lanka does
not discern between a girl child and a boy child. And this is one of the
reasons that Sri Lankan women are doing comparatively better than their
counterparts in other countries of the Asian region. Moreover, maternity
health care facilities has resulted in a very low infant mortality rate
compared to that of other countries in the region.
Our maternal mortality rate is equivalent to that of a developed
country. "These figures as well as the number of women students in
universities speak a lot for equality.
And when these facts were presented at the committee meeting some of
the representatives were surprised that Sri Lanka was showing so much
promise as a developing country."
But among all the positives there are negatives that require
immediate attention. Sri Lanka has a lot of firsts.
Among which is world's first woman Prime Minister, Sirimavo
Bandaranaike. However, the strength of women parliamentarians is still 4
per cent. How to improve women's participation in politics has also been
discussed at the meeting.
Another issue that was discussed was domestic violence, an issue -
identified by the minister - which Sri Lanka needs to work on. But Sri
Lanka's state of domestic violence is better, compared to that of India,
where discrimination has reached the extreme of infanticide.
But India and Sri Lanka are not the only countries that are compelled
to deal with the problem.
As indicated by the proceedings of the committee meeting, this is
common to all commonwealth countries as well.
The Minister said that she intends to work closely with women's
groups and activists to combat domestic violence.
"When one decides to be violent the best 'pick' is always the wife.
This is a stigma on all our plus points."
But she also assured that whatever proceedings would be done in
collaboration with the Ministry of Women's Affairs to avoid duplication.
"Minister Sumedha Jayasena is already working towards eradication of
domestic violence with NOGs and activists. We have to collaborate to
reduce statistics of domestic violence stacked against Sri Lanka."
The issue of migrant workers was also brought into the lime light at
the proceedings.
She with much regret admitted that there was no way to put a stop to
this since the Sri Lankan economy is not yet strong enough to provide
these women with an alternative means of support.
They undergo much abuse, and most lose the battle along the way. They
have literally no education, no exposure and they are underpaid.
They lack the most elementary and simple must-haves like telephone
etiquette and how to use a toilet. And Sri Lanka has up to now sadly
failed to come to terms with it.
The minister attributed this to lack of proper education. "It's true
that Sri Lankan education is free. But it needs new input in terms of
capacity building. It should not be entirely focused on learning off
text books."
We attribute some of the problems faced by women-lead households to
the war, but the minister pointed out that, whether it is soldiers or
terrorists who die in the war it is Sri Lankan women who suffer in the
end.
"Whatever positive aspects we may be able to boast of, we still have
a long way to go in terms of achieving equality. We women have not been
very strong in attempting to develop our own standards." She reiterated
the fact that the standard of these women can be uplifted only if all
parties concerned - such as women activists, NGOs as well as the
government get together. "We have to get the parliament involved in
this. A whole lot of awareness is required to achieve this objective.
Because women play such a pivotal role in the country today they simply
can't be left out."
Pic: Kavindra Perera
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