NPP women MPs call out hate speech against women

 A group of Government woman MPs have called out hate speech against women in the country and urged  legal reforms as well as ethical reporting to deal with this trend.
 
“Every day we hear of one crime or the other against women, ranging from murder to sexual assault to sexual harassment at a workplace or in cyber space. Hate speech against woman normalised indicating a deeper problem of a culture of misogyny which builds towards a culture of physical and sexual violence,” the NPP MPs said in a statement.
 
They said that the sexual assault of a doctor in Anuradhapura hospital has once again sparked a discussion on the country’s collective failure to combat violent crimes against women.
 
"While we express our solidarity and empathy with the survivor of this particular incident we also stress that regardless of the social category or the identity of the victim, our mission should be to dismantle the culture of violence against women,” they said.
 
The MPs said they are deeply concerned about the publication of the victim’s statement in the media and the lack of sensitivity in our system towards violent crimes against women which leads to such lapses.
‘The law enforcement authorities and the media must act with sensitivity towards survivors of violence and harassment. In a large number of cases women are discouraged from reporting incidents of violence and harassment to authorities precisely because of the stigma attached to their names from there on. Every survivor has a right to privacy. The judiciary, police and the media must prioritise the privacy and well-being of survivors if we are to encourage reporting of crimes to authorities,’ they said.
 
They added that often such violations of privacy lead to victim blaming on a large scale, as was seen in this case too.

“Social media chatter about the supposed credibility of the actions of the woman following the crime creates a culture of shame and self-doubt which prevents women from reporting sexual assault to authorities,” they said.
 
Twenty NPP MPs endorsed the statement.