Management women professionals working to protect rights of women
‘Aiyo aunty, magai me loku badda gediya ahakkaralaa dendako berida, matta aayeth natanna oonai’ (Please aunty, can’t you get rid of my big tummy, I want to dance again).
This heart-rending appeal of a 12 year-old girl rape victim in 2011 whose desperate plea was to return to a normal life, was quoted by Sulochana Sigera, President, Women in Management (WIM), when she addressed the WIM Professional and Career Awards for Women held in Colombo recently.
Speaking to an audience that included WIM members and several politicians from the government as well as the opposition, she pointed to the misery many women undergo in today’s Sri Lankan society. She said “If you are a woman, your value is in helping another woman in distress”.
It was revealed that rape of girls, boys and adults and even women of 80 to 85 years of age is becoming common place while even infants are not spared. Ms. Sigera said that there are people here who sympathise and cry for rapes that are taking place in India, while they tend to ignore the dastardly crimes occurring under their very nose here in Sri Lanka, in a backdrop of lawlessness and scant regard for the ‘rule of law’.
She said that when she heard the woes of that 12 year rape victim, it was the shock of her life as a mother and a woman.
Ms. Sigera said they were determined to champion the cause of women.
Another aim of WIM she said is to empower women, recognise their talents and push them up the ladder from middle management to top management as there are just a few women in the top management. To bring in something different and unique to bring change motivated her to create WIM.
WIM would start networking to offer opportunities for young people to come up in their careers. Girls who join the universities, she said are not keen to take up careers in the private sector, but prefer the state sector for leave and pension benefits to lead a comfortable life.
Another perennial problem with regard to women in Sri Lanka, she said is the single mother families with Sri Lanka estimated to have a staggering 500,000 widows most of whom desperately need help. WIM has started a project for single mothers.
A large number of women who have excelled in diverse professional and career field were identified for the awards of excellence.
Ms. Sigera, after the awards ceremony, told the Business Times that they are empowering women and in their single mother programme they train them in some vocation such as bridal courses, small businesses to sustain their families. They offer these mothers loans in the range of Rs. 10,000 and once they are established in their careers, the loan is recovered.
They have conducted such special programmes in Jaffna, Trincomalee, Panama, Samanthurai and Anuradhapura, successfully. They have ensured all those who underwent training are gainfully employed.
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