TNA MP highlights plight of women in North

A TNA Parliamentarian told Parliament though the military is blamed for abusing women in the North, relatives, shopkeepers and other men also made advances on women in the North.

“We have been blaming the military in the past, and I think a highly militarised environment is also not conducive. There is much to be said about that as well. But we must also acknowledge that it is not only the military. It is the relatives, it is the shopkeeper, it is the other men. All of these people take advantage of this situation,” TNA MP M. A. Sumanthiran told Parliament recently.

Mr. Sumanthiran said such acts had increased because of poverty as well. “There are a few instances that have been brought to our notice where women who are now widowed are forced to render services to men just for a loaf of bread or a bottle of oil which is horrendous,” he said.

The TNA MP said religious personalities, even members of the clergy were in recent times accused of such offences. “I don’t want to point fingers at other religions. I am a Christian, and often we have come across situations where Christian clergy themselves, my own clergy, have been found to be taking advantage of situations of counselling and so on and abusing women or children. This is an- other issue – where trust is broken and they take advantage of a situation of trust. What is worse is that in most cases the religious authorities try and cover up because they think this is something that would tarnish the image of their organisation,” he charged.

He said the abuse of women was also a matter that has now come into the limelight with several sexual attacks on women being reported. “We need to take stock of this as an urgent issue and arrest the situation,” he said urging the Minister of Women’s Affairs to bring, if necessary legislation, administrative steps to arrest the situation.

Mr. Sumanthiran said statistics show that in Sri Lanka about 37.8% of girls by the age of twelve had undergone some kind of sexual abuse. Of the fifteen thousand cases that are pending, in 2010, he said the Ministry of Justice conducted a survey and found that about four thousand of those involved are children.