Rights beyond laws

The Government has decided to activate a stable legal mechanism towards the creation of a safe environment, free from violence, for women and girls in Sri Lanka. Over the next six months stakeholders including lawmakers are to sit together to find ways to resolve high levels of abuse in Sri Lanka but they will find it tough going.

After decades of outdated social attitudes, calcified judicial systems and unsolved cases widening the discourse on women and child rights will be a gargantuan task. Especially on child abuse, the arguments have skipped over tried, tested and proven measures to the death penalty, which one faction is blindly promoting without considering the ineffectiveness of such a move. The ministerial sub-committee itself will have to steer clear of knee jerk reactions and assemble short, medium and long term moves to protect women and children.

Under the existing system even once the offence is discovered and the responsible parties arrested, children often have no one to take care of them and are shuttled to Government or non-government run juvenile centres. They then have to undergo more heartbreak and fear as a sluggish legal system mires them in years of litigation – sometimes for as long as a decade. Often, during this time, the perpetrators roam free.

It has been estimated that every day, three to five children are raped in Sri Lanka. Police statistics show the total number of child rapes in 2011 as 1,463; the figure jumped to 1,759 cases in 2012, according to a Parliamentary report. Police records also give a total of just over 2,000 sexual offenses against children, besides rape, in 2011; child-molestation cases in 2012 soared to over 5,000, according to Parliamentary figures. The total number of all crimes against children — which besides sex crimes include crimes of violence, abduction, trafficking and other offenses — increased by a dramatic 64% between 2011 and 2012.

These are mind-numbing numbers. Rampant abuse is completely swept into the shadows and while the Government has taken some steps such as establishing two courts only for child abuse cases, it is estimated that around 10, 000 cases are pending at all courts around the island.

The culture of silence and impunity is also being seen in crimes against women. Out of over 30,000 cases of harassment and sexual abuses against women, only around 600 perpetrators are remanded. This is a jaw-dropping 2%, showing the gross inefficiency of the legal system to provide justice. Existing laws have to be upgrade and effectively implemented.

The legal mechanism has to stop women becoming victims but that is just a starting step. Women have to be empowered so that they have equal opportunities to study and work, which despite high literacy rates is not the case in Sri Lanka with only about 34% of the labour force composed of women. Financial empowerment is a huge part of empowering women so that they make better decisions for themselves and their children. The capacity to leave abusive relationships and still be socially accepted as a fulfilled and independent woman is largely absent in Sri Lanka.

Rape and abuse make women victims and undermine their power. A true legal mechanism will not just protect women but empower them so that they can protect themselves.