Editorial

The world celebrates today another annual International Day dedicated to women. Various women’s organisations from Jaffna to Colombo and beyond are holding programmes to mark the day with themes ranging from gender equality and empowering women to protecting them.

The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka held a seminar on Friday on technology-based violence against women — an increasing form of violence that occurs via offline and online media. Technology, they say, is the newest tool that is used to commit violence against, and exploit women. Women In Need together with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), also addressing the issue of cyber harassment, has just launched the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the Police in Addressing Complaints on Cyber Harassment while presenting key findings on their research on the technology facilitated violence against women and girls in this country.

While these are growing and dangerous problems, each year, the same old issues persist with little done for the emancipation of the so-called ‘weaker sex’. The majority are quick to cash in on the marketing opportunities International Women’s Day presents – with numerous offers of consumer products for the fashion conscious and more privileged.

But it is no different the world over – women’s issues not receiving the attention they should. In neighbouring India, nationwide protests continue over gang rapes and assaults on young women, while in the US and Europe campaigns against sexual harassment at workplaces continue as too the movements demanding equal pay for equal work and attempts at breaking the ‘glass ceiling’  that prevents women from advancing to high positions in management.  This is while there are still countries where women are expected to live as in medieval times — forced to dress according to the dictates of their male family members, not allowed to pursue their education or drive a vehicle.

Easily ignored in this country are the problems of the thousands of courageous, persevering women who continue with back-breaking work  – on the plantations of this country, the garment factory worker, and particularly the women toiling in West Asia, Europe and the Far East doing menial work to keep the home fires burning.

It is the Sri Lankan women working abroad who must attract the highest priority of any Government. Unfortunately it has not been the case with whichever Administration of recent years even when numbers rose to nearly a million Sri Lankan migrant workers, the bulk of them women.

A Government does not need a new Constitution or to change the 19th Amendment or a two-thirds majority for an Executive President or Prime Minister to take charge of the subject that brings in USD seven billion annually into the country helping to pay the country’s oil bill and for other essential exports.

The video clip of the Sri Lankan woman who has contracted the coronavirus from the household in which she works in Italy should pull at anyone’s heartstrings as she relates her plight, and her anxiety, all alone in a hospital in a faraway country.

A Government owes much more to these women.

Gender parity in politics

On the eve of the dissolution of the last Parliament, all, or most of the women legislators set aside their political differences to join hands in a rare show of unity demanding greater gender representation in elected office.

At a news conference which hardly received the media attention it might have otherwise warranted, these women asked political parties to put forward more female candidates at the upcoming general election – and by extension, for the voters to pick them so that the country could be better served by their presence in the august assembly. They also wanted more female presence at the Pradeshiya Sabhas and municipalities for the same reasons.

Moves to have a quota, or a minimum number of candidates on offer by each party were looked at by numerous parliamentary committees that have gone into electoral law reforms over the years. These quotas are always a departure from merit-based systems. It is understandable that countries that discriminate against persons depending on their caste, colour or gender are given quotas in university enrolments or government jobs – even promotions. Whether such discriminatory practices apply to Sri Lanka can be hotly debated. Caste politics played an influential role once upon a time, especially in the North and the deep South. Over the years, however, this influence has waned and had the legislators at the time introduced quotas on a caste basis, the question would have been whether it would have only aggravated the divisions in the social fabric of the country.

The recently dissolved Parliament had only 12 female MPs out of 225 members. Of the dozen, ten have been either widows, sisters or daughters of male politicians. They have continued the trend set by the world’s first woman Head of Government, Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike who stepped into her assassinated husband’s sandals six decades ago.

There is the question of whether Parliament is a suitable place for any decent woman given the foul language, sexist bullying and uncouth, rowdy behaviour of many male MPs. The people have witnessed this in full measure in recent years.

However, a research paper on the performances of these lady MPs, at least in Parliament unfortunately is not particularly impressive. The best performer in her contributions to parliamentary debates has been a TNA MP who has participated in 104 debates, speaking on 15 topics with an overall rank of 74/234 (234 being the number of MPs who sat in the entire four and a half years of this Parliament minus the Speaker). Other than for two female MPs, all others score a pitiful ranking of over 100/234.

No doubt there could be a counter argument to show that many male MPs have fared worse. That is a wholly different matter which is not gender based but an example of the general deterioration in the calibre of men holding public office.

A recent remark by the Chairman of the National Elections Commission (NEC) that defeated candidates should be eligible to enter Parliament through the National List has drawn some criticism as well. These are not areas the NEC Chairman needs offer his unsolicited advice on. He seems to revel in controversy, and on the basis that any publicity is good publicity.

Yet, if one were to go into that subject, the problem of defeated candidates being eligible for National List appointments, through the back door as it were, is not wrong in principle if that candidate can make a genuine and worthwhile contribution to the work of the Legislature.

In earlier Parliaments, there were Appointed MPs who were to represent minorities and otherwise unrepresented groups. What has been a worrying factor in recent years with the National List is that the political leadership of this country has abused the category. Many entered Parliament through this list because they had the thick skin to hang around the leader’s house and show their loyalty only for some of them to stab their leader in the back later.

Unfortunately, the political leaders did not spend time to scout around for the ‘great and the good’ who could add some brilliance to an otherwise lacklustre Legislature – be they men or women.