BY Nadeeka Dissanayake
The alleged rape and sexual assault that happened at the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital on 10 March, victimising a woman doctor, would be the most recent and largely reported case against women, in a lengthy list of rapes and harassments.
Pounded by a massive pressure, due to the influential profession the victim belonged to, law enforcement sprang into action and caught the perpetrator. The suspect, a former army soldier named Nilantha Manduranga Ratnayake, who is a resident of the Galnewa New Town, was arrested in a joint operation conducted by the Police and the Special Task Force in the Nidikumbayaya area of Galnewa. As of today, he is being remanded on the Anuradhapura Magistrate’s Court’s order delivered on 17 March.
Yet according to UN Women reports, on an average, less than 10 percent of women, who seek help following a rape incident, approach the law enforcement agencies. This a significant concern, considering the fact that only 14 per cent of women and girls globally are privileged to live in countries with robust legal protection (UNWomen, 2022).
Just glancing back a decade and a half in the Sri Lankan history, we have witnessed many such cases being reported, sending shock waves across the society. The list spans from girls to women from every social strata. The violence see no limits or boundaries. Yet hardly the ‘plain Jane’ would expose themselves to the Police – even that with a dedicated desk for child and women protection. The taboo and trauma presides justice, where the innocent victim being ‘emotionally’ stoned to death.
Economy, profession and demands
As the society evolved, more women getting opportunity to be engaged in a profession and become financially independent. Job duties created demands in women’s lives. Women, living in hybrid societies — where modifications happen only at the surface, whereas the society’s core clings on to tribal, conventional thinking – found work/life balance challenging mainly due to infrastructural deficiencies of the society. The poor transportation system, crippled law enforcement mechanism, work environments led by patriarchal norms created and environment not only challenging but dangerous too. Rape and sexual harassment emerge under such circumstances. This not only damages a woman, but destroys her fundamental rights entitled as a human being.
Sri Lanka, with the abovementioned hybrid society, has attempted to introduce mechanisms to create a safe environment for women and girls. In March 1993, Sri Lanka established the National Committee on Women to implement and direct the provisions of the Women’s Charter approved by the Sri Lankan Cabinet. It operated the 1938 toll-free women help line as well. It aimed an “A violence-free, women-friendly Sri Lankan society that ensures equality.”
“The State shall in all fields, in particular in the political, social, economic and cultural fields, take all appropriate measures, including promulgation of legislation, to ensure full development and advancement of women, for the purpose of guaranteeing them the exercise and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, on a basis of equality with men.” – Women Charter (Sri Lanka), 1993.
The Bureau for the Prevention of Abuse of Children and Women of the Sri Lanka Police would be another surviving entity that aims at providing a safe place for women to seek help while in distress. Technically, every police station in Sri Lanka has a women’s and children’s desk which operates as a unit of the bureau. Despite these measures, there have been reports where the desk is dysfunctional at certain police stations, mainly due to lack of human resources as the functioning of the desk requires woman police officers. Yet isn’t the bureau a place where women can reach after the crime? Would the mere existence of such units serve as a preventative measure?
Equality and justice
The areas women enter as professionals are expanding, and definitely they step into areas which were male-dominant earlier. Living in a society that clings on to age-old thinking, and tribal norms, women who entre in to fields less treaded by females get resisted and frowned upon by colleagues as well as family. Such resistance could emerge in the form of sexual harassments and rape.
And the crime is not limited to the health profession alone. Women succeeding in many male-dominant fields face challenging and at times threatening situations in this back drop. Therefore, as the demand state, establishing conducive environments should not be limited to the medical profession, but to all professional areas women work. Such initiatives need to be implemented applicable to all situations. If women are unable to perform to the best of their abilities in their profession, due to abovementioned issues, they will get unfairly stagnated at one point without climbing the ladder to the top management.
All working women, face numerous problems from dawn to dusk, on public transport, on the road, at the market etc etc. All women deserve a safe chance to pursue the life they desire – it’sfundamental.
The vulnerable conditions women face, create the need for a multi-sectoral approach – I.e. government and civil society organisations both needed to intervene. Even though change in public opinion is compulsory, it is a long shot that would require a slow start.
But the pressure on decision-makers to intervene and ‘makedecisions’ will happen only if parties that are interested in protecting rights of the people, continue to build the pressure. Considering the number of non-governmental organisations operating in Sri Lanka and international agencies functioning and funding, one could ponder that a perfect society is not that far.
In fact, the Sustainable Development Goals (the 2030 plan), in its goal 5, 8 and 11 depicts a picture of the perfect future with safe, smart, sustainable cities where men and women are equal and not discriminated.
Yet the question lies, whether the governments across the globe, have the political will to initiate this 360 degree shift.
When can we witness a society where men and women are not differentiated and equally enjoy fundamental rights?
How many more years do women have to undergo mammoth-sized pressure levels to be engaged in a profession in order to become independent, strong women?