We can end violence against women through a united effort
Monday, 25 November 2013 00:00
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By Dr. Marlene Abeyewardene
Today, 25 November, is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. On this date, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon reiterated the commitment made by him in his “UNiTE to End Violence against Women Campaign.” for the UN to support Governments and peoples to eliminate violence against women and girls in all parts of the world.
As we are aware, violence against women and girls is a major health and human rights concern in Sri Lanka. It adversely affects the wellbeing of women, men and children that is the entire family.
Today 25 November the United Nations commemorates 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence which begins today and ends on 10 December.
We are aware of the fact that women and girls in Sri Lanka face unacceptable violence and abuse of many forms – sexual, physical, emotional and neglect.
Police records show that violence against women has trebled in Sri Lanka during the years 2008, 2009 and 2010. The number of incidents that stood at 542 in 1995 had risen to 1,397 in 2007. 1,582 in 2008, there were cases, 1,624 in 2009 and 1,854 in 2010.
According to the statistics available 44% of victims of sexual abuse are girls under the age of 18 years, 80% are females under the age of 30 years.
It is also believed that a woman is raped every 90 minutes and three to five girl children are raped daily in our country at present.
With respect to domestic violence, 60% of women in Sri Lanka were subjected to this in 2011 and in 2013 this has increased to 80%. At present Sri Lanka is said to have the fifth highest rate amongst countries with respect to domestic violence.
These statistics are alarming when it attracts our attention; however do we as a society take responsibility towards eradicating violence against the women and girls in our country?
Sri Lanka has achieved the lowest maternal mortality rate in South Asia, as well as the lowest infant mortality rate, this is highly commendable.
We have thus to focus on the gravity of the problem with respect to violence against the women and the girls of our country and its prevention by a united effort of all civic minded citizens and law enforcing authorities.
Zonta International is an organisation of women in business and the profession who work towards advancing the status of women worldwide through service and advocacy which includes prevention and protection from violence.
In 2012, Zonta International began a campaign ‘Zonta says No to violence against women,’ starting with the 16 days of activism against gender violence on 25 November. This campaign will continue throughout 2013, and will feature service and advocacy actions of all the Zonta clubs and districts globally to prevent and end violence against women and girls in their local communities.
The orange colour of the campaign logo as well as the campaign title itself was chosen to demonstrate Zonta International’s partnership with the UN and its agencies.
At the 12th ZI District conference held in Sri Lanka in October 2013, Zonta District 25 decided to harness ‘Zonta power’ of the constituent countries of our district, namely India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal through their clubs to work towards this end. We hope to commence our activities from today and continue until we achieve our goal.
In Sri Lanka we are grateful for the work done by our Government, especially the Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Affairs with regard to the women and children of our country.
We especially appreciate the vibrant media campaign launched by the above Ministry (in collaboration with the UNFPA) to promote peace in the family and in the homes of Sri Lankan people. We, however, must accept that a multi-sectoral approach is required to achieve our objectives.
On the part of the criminal justice system, it is important to bring the perpetrators of Violence (especially sexual violence) to justice. A number of crimes related to women and girls have not been investigated and dealt with effectively. This needs urgent addressing. The time frame for judgment to be given in many cases has taken up to nine to 10 years, which is extremely unsatisfactory. Fast tracking of these cases is extremely important so that early Judgments are given.
The Attorney General’s Department needs cooperation and support of all the related organisations and officials to assist them in order to make sure that perpetrators of violence domestic or otherwise are brought to book and punished as a deterrent to others as quickly as possible.
We also focus on the males in our society with the thought that a true man would respect the dignity and rights of women, who deserve this, being equal partners with them and contribute much to the family society and country.
(The writer is District Governor – ZI District 25.)
