Women hold placards during a demonstration to mark “International Women's Day." The campaign organized by Women's Education and Research Centre (WERC) was a call to bring an end to the rising rape, domestic violence and gender based attacks on Sri Lankan women.

In the past, movements to end sexual violence have challenged cultural norms that often hide these incidents from the public eye owing to societal attitudes. Women’s groups around the world have conducted wide ranged campaigns on raising awareness on the issue of violence against women, demanding quick and effective legal redress to cases of rape and sexual abuse.

Sri Lanka ratified CEDAW in the year 1981 and has taken steps to address the issue of violence against women through amendments to the Penal Code, criminalizing hidden issues of sexual harassment, grave sexual abuse and domestic violence. Although this has helped address the issue, legal redress still remains slow and ineffective and violence against women is still a serious issue in the country. The name is given is the same procedure rather

Recently, the ground breaking anti- sexual harassment movements, #Me Too and Times Up elevated global consciousness surrounding the issue. In 2017, the #Me Too movement and its iconic hashtag went viral on social media as a vehicle for women to share their stories of sexual harassment. In response came Time’s Up, an initiative that connects those who experience sexual misconduct with legal and public relations assistance. Most feel that these are successful mechanisms that can be a preventive measure to future incidence of sexual harassment.

It is estimated that approximately 35% of women worldwide have experienced some form of sexual harassment in their lifetime (UN Women, 2019). UNFPA estimates that 1 in every 4 women in Sri Lanka have been raped by the time she reaches 18 years.

To put into perspective the ineffectiveness of the law, Ms. Kamani Jinadasa, Executive Director of Shanthi Margam Lanka recently speaking at a meeting to review the progress of the ‘End Corporal Punishment 2020’ campaign revealed that "It was shocking to see that over 97% of rape cases do not come before the legal process as the victims tend to suffer silently."

Picture Source: http://www.ft.lk/opinion/Anger-vs-love-No-one-hits-with-love-to-discipline-a-child/14-672437

Last year, the Sri Lankan chapter of OXFAM, launched a successful campaign titled “Not on my bus” which encourages public action and involvement in addressing the issue of sexual harassment during travel. This issue has been picked up by various sectors.

The Grave Crimes Abstract which is published by the Sri Lanka Police each year includes statistics on rape. Data for the period 2006 – 2018 have been extracted below:

Year	Total No. of rape Complaints	Plaints filed	Convictions	Acquittals	Total Disposed of	Investigations pending	Pending in Magistrate’s Courts	Pending in HC/DC	Pending in AGs Dept.	Total Pending
2006[1]	1463	295	1	6	55	795	234	45	324	1398
2007[2]	1397	264	3	2	35	874	219	34	229	1356
2008[3]	1582	238	3	3	49	1057	207	13	253	1530
2009[4]	1624	280	---	3	50	1091	264	5	208	1568
2010[5]	1854	167	3	1	53	139	148	9	240	1794
2011[6]	1870	235	2	2	45	1344	206	20	249	1819
2012[7][8]	460	44	---	---	10	393	44	---	11	448
2013[9]	2181	234	7	4	56	1410	494	6	209	2119
2014[10]	2008	249	1	0	36	1159	235	2	576	1972
2015	379	88	0	0	12	232	83	2	48	365
2016	350	67	0	0	11	230	58	7	42	337
2017	294	52	0	0	9	204	47	2	28	281
2018[11]	345	40	0	0	5	269	37	26	2	334

Source: Sri Lanka Police

[1] Grave Crimes Abstract 2014. Available at: https://www.police.lk/images/others/crime_trends/2014/grave_crime_abstract_for_the_2014.pdf

[2] Available at: https://www.police.lk/images/crime/2019/disposal_of_grave_crime_policedivision.pdf

[1] Grave Crimes Abstract 2006. Available at: https://www.police.lk/images/others/crime_trends/2006/grave_crime_abstract_2006.html

[2] [2] Grave Crimes Abstract 2007. Available at: https://www.police.lk/images/others/crime_trends/2007/grave_crime_abstract_2007.htm

[3] Grave Crimes Abstract 2008. Available at: https://www.police.lk/images/others/crime_trends/2008/grave_crime_abstract_2008.html

[4] Grave Crimes Abstract 2009. Available at: https://www.police.lk/images/others/crime_trends/2009/grave_crime_abstract_year_2009.htm

[5] Grave Crimes Abstract 2010. Available at: https://www.police.lk/images/others/crime_trends/2010/grave_crime_abstract_for_full_year%202010.pdf

[6] Grave Crimes Abstract 2011. Available at: https://www.police.lk/images/others/crime_trends/2011/grave-crime-abstract-for-the-year-2011.pdf

[7] Statistics are only available for the 1^st Quarter of 2012.

[8] Grave Crimes Abstract 2012. Available at: https://www.police.lk/images/others/crime_trends/2012/grave-crime-abstract-for-01st-quarter-for-the-year-2012.pdf

[9] Grave Crimes Abstract 2013. Available at: https://www.police.lk/images/others/crime_trends/2013/grave_crime_abstract_2013.pdf

The above statistics show that the conviction rate for reported rape cases is extremely low. It also appears that although there is a significant number of complaints being lodged regarding rape only a handful of cases are taken up and concluded with a conviction or acquittal. Additionally, it is observed that there are a large number of cases pending at various stages of legal procedure, before various courts and in the Attorney General’s Department.

Taking the above statistics into consideration, in 2019, the Women's Education and Research Centre (WERC) commissioned by the National Committee of Women (NCW) undertook a pioneering pilot research which sought to understand the challenges in obtaining effective legal responses to rape in Sri Lanka. The study examined the reasons for delays and low conviction rates in rape prosecutions in the Colombo District. It looked at the reasons for delays in both Magistrate and High Court cases of rape through the examination of 10 case records.

The legal process of prosecuting rape commences with the lodging of a complaint at the Police. Once a complaint is lodged, the Police will commence investigations and periodically file B reports at the Magistrate’s Court which has jurisdiction. Once a complaint has been filed, the complainant is referred to a Judicial Medical Officer (JMO), a psychological evaluation and the STD Unit.

The analysis of case records revealed that there was a significant delay in examination. A forensic medical examination is most useful within 72 hours of the incident (Magalhaes et al, 2015). In majority of cases, the examination was delayed, in some cases it was delayed for over 72 hours.

Once the investigation concludes, the Magistrate’s Court (MC) commences a Non-summary Inquiry (NSI). The study found that there are delays in the NSI Inquiry, owing to lack of documentation of extracts.

There is a perception that a majority of cases filed in the MC do not proceed to trial in the High Court (HC), and thus, the study also focused on assessing the manner in which cases proceed from the MC to the HC.

Speaking about the research findings, Ms. Sandani Yapa Abeywardena - Lead Researcher revealed that there were many reasons for the cases not to proceed from MC to HC. One reason being that the Prosecutrix has gone abroad and not returned. She further stated that, interviews with investigative officers revealed that there were times when the complainant does not wish to pursue the case for a multitude of reasons. Firstly, officers noted that complaints were made by victims in the hopes of immediate punishment or hoping that the Police will deliver some form of justice at that stage itself. Once they become aware that they may have to go to Court, some complainants tend to shy away from the process.

In some cases by the time the matter comes up for trial in the HC, or even the NSI at the MC, the complainants have gotten married, sometimes without disclosing the incident to their husbands. In such cases they fail to attend court. Failure to attend may also be because of economic reasons where the victim does not want the employer to be aware of the case. In the case of daily wage earners, the victim does not want to lose her day's wage.

To view the complete interview of the Lead Researcher, Ms. Sandani Yapa Abeywardena, please visit the following link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-0rktiOTxZGIjCTXkVfWW76HeKv-KBzf/view?usp=sharing_eil&ts=5e323119

Despite the mechanisms in place, the legal process do not succeed as quickly as desired owing to the fact that there is little awareness of the mechanisms across various actors (Eg: victim, Police, JMO). As a Women's organization, it calls upon us to create this awareness across the society.

References

Magalhaes, T., Dinis-Oliveira, R. J., Silva, B., Corte-Real, F. & Vieira, D. N. (2015). Biological Evidence Management for DNA Analysis in Cases of Sexual Assault. Scientific World Journal. doi: 10.1155/2015/365674.

facts-and-figures

Shari Jayawardhana

Women's Education and Research Centre (WERC)

Terms & Conditions

iVoice Idea Competition

About

iVoice is an online platform that encourages youth to discuss social issues and to drive innovative solutions. The platform features stories relating to social issues in Sri Lanka, which are submitted by iVoice contributors and the general public.

The objective of the iVoice Idea Competition is to encourage youth to play a participatory role in solving social issues. After reading a story featured on iVoice, youth can submit their ‘idea’ to help to address the social issue that is highlighted in the story. The ten best ideas will receive seed capital of Rs. 100,000/- each, and mentoring, to support in implementing their ideas.

Eligibility

Participants must be Sri Lankan nationals between the ages of 18-29 years
In the event that a participant is awarded the seed capital, he/she must take full responsibility to ensure the idea is implemented before 31 December 2017

Submitting ideas

The majority of articles featured on iVoice relate to a social issue. These stories have a ‘Submit Your Idea’ button at the end of the article, inviting youth to share their innovative ideas on how to address these social issues.

Submitted ideas must be innovative and unique. The ideas must also be practical and implementable by 31 December 2017.

The deadline for submitting an idea is 3 September 2017.

To submit an idea, the following details must be provided through the online form:

Confirmation of nationality and age
Personal details: Full name, NIC, Mobile Number, E-mail, Postal Address
Confirmation that the idea can be implemented between the time period of 21 September – 31 December 2017
Title of idea: A brief title that summarizes the concept of the idea/solution (50 characters)
The problem: A 100 word description of the specific problem that your idea will address
The solution: A 500 word description of what you will do to help to address the problem and how you plan to implement your idea before 31 December 2017
Budget: Specify the total budget required to implement your idea in Sri Lankan Rupees (LKR). Note that the ten winning submissions will be granted Rs. 100,000/- as seed capital in September 2017.

Note: Participants can submit any number of ideas; however, only one idea per article is permitted.

Evaluation process

Ideas will be evaluated through a competitive process.

03 Sept 2017: Closing of submissions at 23:59 on 3 September 2017

06 Sept 2017: Shortlisting of 20 ideas

13 Sept 2017: Shortlisted applicants to present their ideas in further detail to the judging panel

21 Sept 2017: The ten winning ideas will be announced at the Award Ceremony at which Rs. 100,000/- seed capital will be granted to each of the winning applicants

Evaluation criteria includes creativity of the proposed idea to address the given social issue, and feasibility of implementation within the stipulated budget and timeframe.

The number of votes received per idea will not be a deciding factor.

The judging panel’s decision will be final.

Implementing ideas

The ten young people will receive the seed capital on 21 September 2017. They will also be provided mentoring organized by the Sri Lanka Development Journalist Forum and the United Nations Population Fund, to support in implementation of their ideas. All winning participants must provide a progress report every 2 weeks and must take full responsibility to complete project implementation by 31 December 2017.

UNDERSTANDING THE CHALLENGES IN OBTAINING EFFECTIVE LEGAL RESPONSE TO RAPE

UN Women (2019) Facts and figures: Ending violence against women https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/facts-and-figures

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