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Women still suffer as anti-violence projects lack commitment
Despite the availability of laws, responsible institutions and resources, Sri Lanka has failed to gain public support for zero tolerance of gender-based violence. 
Experts said this is due to the lacklustre attitude of authorities to implement and continue programmes that provide lasting solutions, delays in police investigations and the filing of plaints and progress of cases through the courts.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) states that in Sri Lanka, one in three female homicides are related to intimate partner violence and 69 per cent of such incidents go unreported.
Dr. Hiranthi Wijemanne, former programme officer of UNICEF in Colombo and former chairperson of the National Child Protection Authority, said although many programmes had been drawn up there was little continuity in implementation.
The Policy Framework and National Action Plan 2016-2020 put forward by the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs in 2016 to address sexual and gender-based violence in Sri Lanka failed to achieve its objective due to “lack of grit” by authorities, she said.
“Studies have been done and reports submitted but there has not been proper implementation of proposals made. If at all programmes were initiated, the authorities failed to monitor and follow them up,” she said.
This had led to several programmes being abandoned.
Dr. Wijemanne said the problem had to be addressed at grassroots level with male attitudes towards women needing drastic change.
“It is important that we instil gender equality among our children and this should start at a young age and at home and in schools,” she said.
The media, especially electronic media, had to reform. “The age-old belief that it is all right for a man to be violent and harm his wife, and themes depicting a man being violent at home and the wife silently tolerating it should not be portrayed,” Dr. Wijemanne said.
Children and Women Police Bureau (CWB) Deputy Director Lanka Rajani Amarasena said that since the setting up of CWB branches in 488 police stations, complaints by women about gender-based violence had increased.
Police said so far this year they had received, through the 1938 Women’s Help Line, 613 complaints about family disputes, 312 on domestic violence and four complaints of rape.
Experts said the figures depict only the tip of the iceberg because women do not come forward and complain due to stigma, culture and threat.
To encourage women to come forward, experts said, it was important for police to work with grama niladharis, public health officers and area nurses, who have direct contact with women facing violence at home.
It was important that health officers be trained to question women sensitively in making inquiries about their husbands, family life and children. Women should be made aware that they need not suffer in silence and that there was help if needed.
Delays in complaints being heard in court have also led to women losing faith that justice would be carried out.
The Police Grave Crime Report 2018 report shows that only 10 of 1,199 statutory cases of rape of children aged under 16 years that were committed with consent had been tried in a court of law. The figures reveal 120 plaints had been filed and 861 cases were pending investigation, 115 in the magistrates courts and 211 with the Attorney-General.
Of 248 cases of rape without consent of girls under 16 years of age, only four cases had been heard. Only 24 plaints have been filed and 186 cases are under investigation by police.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) report, “Country Profile on Gender-Based Violence in Sri Lanka – 2016” states deep-seated socio-cultural norms and religious beliefs and attitudes contribute to the problem.
Attitudes listed included men saying they need to be tough with a woman, women required to tolerate violence by husbands to keep the family together, the woman needing to be beaten sometimes, the woman’s role being to take care of the home and cook for family, and the woman bearing the responsibility of avoiding pregnancy.
In another WHO survey on attitudes towards sexual violence, including rape, the common belief among all respondents was that women should dress appropriately and that doing otherwise was asking for rape, and that the woman was to blame for the situation.
When a case of a woman being raped is heard, respondents said, the woman should be asked if she was promiscuous or had a bad reputation and also whether she had physically fought back during the incident.
Shanthi Margaam, an NGO working with women in low-income groups who are subject to domestic violence, said it often found that men did not allow their wives to work because they feared losing control of the women. They preferred to be the sole breadwinner, the organisation’s Community Officer and Research Centre Manager, Duminda Edirisinghe said. “This gives them authority over the women and allows them to indulge in wife-bashing and abuse,” she added.
Shanthi Margaam is currently working on a project with women in 25 households in the slums of Borella who are subject to domestic violence. These women have consented to participate in a self-employment programme to make handicrafts to supplement household
income and make them financially independent of their partners.