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Help- line for women
By Renu Warnasuriya
"The empowerment of women will not stop until responsible citizens come forward to help," said Rosanna Davison, Miss World 2003 when she visited Mobitel for the launch of their latest service, a help-line with Diri Piyasa.

Established in 2002, Diri Piyasa is a collaborative effort of the government and non-governmental organisations that aims to help victims of gender violence. So far six centres have been established in six districts conducting advocacy and awareness raising programmes. The organisation is committed to breaking the cycle of abuse and violence against women.

Mobitel's SMS based service will help victims to contact Diri Piyasa and seek assistance through a multifaceted help-line. The service includes both fixed and mobile hotlines sponsored by Mobitel and Sri Lanka Telecom Ltd.

The Internet service was launched to provide information and links to other resources for women. The Over-The-Air updating of SIM cards together with a menu-based system is also available to all Mobitel subscribers. All that the subscriber has to do to send out a help SMS is to download the required service on the SIM card and click on the menu item.

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