Sri Lanka’s Daughter

By Thisuri Wanniarachchi –May 23, 2015

Thisuri Wanniarachchi

Before the protests, before this became a debate about race, political affiliations, and law, even before her body was found, happened something that happens every day in Sri Lanka. Something that we need to talk about. It doesn’t matter if she’s Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim or Burgher. She’s a citizen of this country. She’s a daughter; Sri Lanka’s daughter. Every day an average of 18 girls are raped in Sri Lanka. This is an issue that has gone unaddressed for far too long. And it’s time we start looking for long term solutions to it. 

Every 90 minutes a girl or a woman in Sri Lanka is forced to have non-consensual sex. This is no coincidence. In societies with education systems that promote male superiority, don’t address the concept gender equality and respecting women, or the ethics of sex, and the only sex education men and women get is through pornography and antiquated societal norms and gender stereotypes, of course there will be high rates of rape. We live in a society where girls are taught from a very young age that they have to be careful, and behave a certain way, unlike boys. Our culture is built upon disciplining girls, although, every day, it is mostly men who commit crimes against women.

While those responsible for the rape and murder of Vidya will be brought in front of the law, nothing can bring back Vidya or justice the inhumanity faced by the thousands of girls raped in Sri Lanka every year. The law can only prosecute, it cannot protect. I believe the only sustainable solution to this: is education. We, as a culture need to rethink the fundamentals of how we bring up our children and the education system that we put them through. Think about the gender inequality we promote through it, the way we carefully ingrain to the minds of society that women are inferior to men.Read More

Bar Condemns Jaffna Court Attack

Geoffrey Alagaratnam
President Bar Association of Sri Lanka

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka has today called upon the Attorney General and the other law enforcement authorities to bring the perpetrators who attacked the Jaffna Court premises to justice.

We publish below the statement in full;

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