Women facing violence in SL lack adequate protection

The deadliest place for women is at home and 140 women and girls on average were killed by an intimate partner or family member per day last year, two UN agencies reported this week.

Globally, an intimate partner or family member was responsible for the deaths of approximately 51,100 women and girls during 2023, an increase from an estimated 48,800 victims in 2022, UN Women and the UN Office of Drugs and Crime said.

The report released on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women said that women and girls everywhere continue to be affected by this extreme form of gender-based violence and no region is excluded.

To mark the day in Sri Lanka, the UN office and the Forum Against Gender-Based Violence, in collaboration with the Sri Lankan Government, organised a walk to raise awareness about violence against women.

In Sri Lanka, Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), remains largely hidden under the cloud of stigma but police statistics show that there is an alarming problem with over 300 women murdered by their husbands, partners, or former boyfriends/husbands in the past four years, according to reports from the Child & Women Bureau.

The police record over 130,000 reports of family disputes annually, yet only around 2% result in a protection order and with little legal safeguards, women end up either getting murdered or enduring years of brutality at the hands of their partners. Many are subject to physical, sexual, and emotional abuse by their partners, with the violence taking a turn for the worse and ending with murder.

Under the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act No. 24 of 2005, any woman facing physical or mental harassment can obtain a protection order from the Magistrate’s Court but many women lack the strength and support needed to take such action in a society where domestic violence is hushed up with a “what happens in the house should remain confined to the walls of the house” attitude of many including those within close family circles.

Police stations in Sri Lanka also lack a conducive atmosphere for women to come forward and lodge a complaint if they’re victims of violence within the home. The number of women police officers in police stations are too few and male police officers are not adequately trained to deal with such situations with the sensitivity they deserve. In fact, there are numerous instances where the police call the couple concerned and ask them to ‘kiss and make up” and send them home. In some such instances, the end has been tragic with the women losing their lives.

There are some places that women can go to for help and these include the Police Children and Women Bureau, the Legal Aid Commission (which offers free legal consultation), Women’s Aid, or the National Women’s Committee (Hotline: 1938). Not many women victims of violence are aware there is help and hence what the police and related organisations must do is ensure that adequate publicity is given so that they don’t have to ensure violence in silence.

There is also the need to recruit more women to the police service and that they are stationed in adequate numbers in each station and trained to deal with domestic violence/IPV. What women in such situations need is for someone to understand them and not judge them. As a society too, we need to build empathy for women in such situations and strengthen their hand so that they can break free and have the necessary safeguards for a secure life.