Long road to equality

As it was confirmed that SSP Imesha Muthumala had been promoted to the post of Deputy Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, the move rightfully garnered a lot of praise on social media; Muthumala is the first female Deputy Director of the CID. But alongside the praise the discourse has inevitably turned to the sage surrounding that last major female appointment in Sri Lanka’s law enforcement strata. 

Bimshani Jasin Arachchi’s appointment to the post of DIG of Police – the first female to take up the role – had been similarly lauded, but then before long there was strong pushback from the male officers set to work under her. They went to courts over a technicality, citing there was no provision for a female appointment to the role. Eventually she was removed from the role.

The fear that something similar might happen with Muthumala is therefore not completely unfounded, though to the CID’s credit, it as institution known for the appointment of females to top roles with nearly half their branch OICs women. That said, Muthumala’s promotion can’t help but bring to mind some of the other areas in which Sri Lanka can improve its female representation. 

From an economic standpoint, women not only make up the bulk of Sri Lanka’s population, but are also the largest foreign exchange earners. For decades, remittances have remained at the top of Sri Lanka’s earnings, followed by apparel and tea, which are dominated by women workers. Tourism also benefits from significant female employment. Yet women still face massive bottlenecks in every sphere of life. 

Women’s representation in politics has been dismal, especially at Parliament level. Even though a quota was introduced at Local Government level, there is much that needs to be done to increase women’s representation in national politics, and also to encourage women elected to office to work on issues that have significant impact for women. Despite making a marked economic contribution, women are still routinely discriminated on a range of points, including pay gaps, glass ceilings, limited access to credit, low representation in the formal workforce, and even transport safety.

Levelling the employment playing field requires building an environment for skilled women to create their own opportunities. This means addressing social norms about working women, and promoting an environment where women can balance work and family.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has estimated that Sri Lanka’s GDP could increase by as much as 20% if there were more women in the formal workforce and it would also substantially improve welfare access, education and financial inclusivity opportunities as well. However for many year the percentage of women in the formal workforce has remained limited to just 34% and many people in Sri Lanka’s private sector have not implemented policies that could see this change.

There is undoubtedly a moral and economic reason to empower women. The campaign for women’s empowerment should not be looked at in silos, but understood as an issue that spans the entire social sphere: only then will positive policies be utilised for true change. It is extremely important that the Government introduces policies to address these issues as soon as possible. 

So while appointments such as Muthumala’s is a promising development, this is not the time to pat ourselves on the back, but instead start to take a harder look at the deeper disparity that exists within society and work towards addressing it.