UN and Australian Govt. initiate programme to prevent SGBV against women and girls in SL

The United Nations in Sri Lanka and the Australian High Commission have announced a new joint effort to empower communities in the Mannar district to prevent sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) against women and girls.

The Australian dollar 1,000,000 (Rs.13, 845,740) programme will be implemented by UNFPA, UNICEF and UN Women over two years (2020 – 2022).

The programme will seek to understand the drivers of violence against women in the Mannar District and support women’s shelters to ensure they are accessible to women and persons with disabilities during lockdowns. Efforts will also be made to ensure women are empowered to exercise their choices and participate in employment opportunities that promote their financial independence.

Further, programme activities will also promote systemic and transformative changes, for instance by hosting educational programmes that equip children and adolescents with tools to be gender sensitive citizens.

UN Sri Lanka efforts will also be focused on giving women and girls access to survivor-centered services for response and prevention of SGBV, especially in the aftermath of COVID-19.

“Australia is committed to supporting Sri Lanka’s response to COVID-19 and has been quick to respond to the Sri Lankan Government’s requests for support and to the needs of communities. Our gender responsive COVID-19 efforts seek to end violence against women and girls and support women’s economic empowerment”, acting Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Amanda Jewell said.

The programme will seek to understand the drivers of violence against women in the Mannar District and support women’s shelters to ensure they are accessible to women and persons with disabilities during lockdowns. Efforts will also be made to ensure women are empowered to exercise their choices and participate in employment opportunities that promote their financial independence. Further programme activities will also promote systemic and transformative changes, for instance by hosting educational programmes that equip children and adolescents with tools to be gender sensitive citizens.

UN Sri Lanka Resident Coordinator Hanaa Singer said, “Studies indicate that 26 per cent of men and 38 per cent of women believe there are circumstances when it is permissible for a man to hit a woman.

“Our programme will seek to address these gender inequalities and discriminatory social norms towards women and girls. The consequences of these harmful attitudes have been compounded by COVID-19 and will continue to impact women and girls disproportionately to men and boys, and affect women’s resilience in mitigating the consequences of the outbreak. Therefore, interventions will address the need to rebuild communities that are equitable and just,” she said.

Regarding the detrimental effect that the COVID-19 pandemic is having in terms of domestic violence, the UNFPA Sri Lanka Country Representative Ritsu Nacken said, “Due to COVID-19 lockdown measures, we have seen and heard an increase in the number of calls made to the helplines from women and girls seeking help from domestic violence. Furthermore, with health systems stretched in responding to the crisis, women’s shelters are also reaching capacity. As the pandemic continues, this number is likely to grow with multiple impacts on women’s mental health and wellbeing, their sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, and their ability to participate in the recovery of this crisis.”