News
Extra police patrols at night to ensure women’s safety
View(s):By Nadia Fazlulhaq
The recent rape of a woman by a gang of three-wheel drivers in a Colombo suburb has prompted calls for preventive action, including the deployment of police patrol teams at night, adequate street lighting, and the regulating and monitoring of three-wheelers.
Eric Illayapparachchi, Secretary to the Ministry of Women’s and Children Affairs, said a request will be made for extra police teams to patrol roads and by-lanes used by factory workers and other working women going home after work. “The Wijerama rape took place late in the evening,” he said. “We must make sure the entire country is safe for women to travel in the evening and the nights,” he said.
On International Women’s Day, March 8, the Ministry will open a new hotline for women to report on intimidation, harassment or assault.
“We have received complaints of three-wheeler drivers harassing women,” Mr. Illayapparachchi told the Sunday Times. “We will work with the Ministry of Private Transport Services to regulate and monitor three-wheeler drivers. All three-wheelers should display the driver’s photograph, address and national identity card.”
Last year, the Police handled 1,920 cases of rape and incest, compared with 1,871 cases in 2011. The majority of rape/incest victims in Sri Lanka are underage girls. There were 1,157 reports of underage rape in 2008; in the first nine months of this year alone there were 1,405 such cases.
Dilrukshi de Alwis of Women in Need told the Sunday Times that Sri Lankan parents are neglectful, especially of their daughters.
“Sri Lankan society is going through a transitional period,” she said. “Pornography is readily available, while sex education is not taught in schools. As a result, pornography substitutes for sex education for young boys and men,”
Police spokesman SSP Preshantha Jayakody said the number of evening and mobile police patrols will be increased throughout the country to make sure that women are safe on the roads and in public areas.
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