Tuesday, October 29, 2013

By Chandrasena Marasinghe-Tuesday, 29 Oct 2013

Project Director of the Women's Political Academy, Dr. Nimalka Fernando, said abortion and prostitution should be legalized, in conjunction with the growth of the tourism industry.

"Going by the present trends, the tourism industry should be identified as a 'leisure culture'. Tourists arrive here to enjoy and relax, and the other side of this leisure culture relates to sexual conduct. The women in this leisure culture have to engage in diverse activities including sex, and therefore they must be provided with health safeguards by legalizing abortion and prostitution," she said.

Dr. Fernando said she is not opposed to the government's plan to promote the tourism industry, but is only asking to take the necessary measures to protect the women who are associated with the industry, particularly as commercial sex workers.

"Health officials have revealed that nearly 50,000 Lankans are engaged in prostitution and the numbers seem to be increasing by the day. In the not too distant future, this will further spiral with the boom in the leisure culture.

The Ministries of Health and Women's Affairs must focus attention on this and take expeditious action," Dr. Fernando pointed out.

Buddhism And Sexism: Can There Be Buddhist Gender Equality?

October 29, 2013

Buddhist women, including nuns, have faced harsh discrimination by Buddhist institutions in Asia for centuries. There is gender inequality in most of the world’s religions, of course, but that’s no excuse. Is sexism intrinsic to Buddhism, or did Buddhist institutions absorb sexism from Asian culture? Can Buddhism treat women as equals, and remain Buddhism?

Let’s begin at the beginning, with the historical Buddha. As told in “The First Buddhist Women,” the Buddha originally refused to ordain women as nuns. He said that allowing women into the sangha would cause his teachings to survive only half as long –- 500 years instead of a 1,000.