International Women’s Day: Dark March in Sri Lanka

The following statement issued by the Civil Society in Colombo, Sri Lanka

“Let us all declare this International Women’s Day, the 8th of March, and the full Month of March, as Dark Days”

(March 8, 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) In our country violence against women and children, particularly sexual violence has been increasing horrendously. Often times there has been no justice for women and children.

Thousands of women, their families and activists who have been fighting for their rights have lost faith and hope to wait for justice. For the case of the 18-year-old schoolgirl raped and murdered in2015 In Jaffna (Punkudutheevu), island wide we protested and asked justice. In Batticaloa in 2009, a 24-year-old woman was raped and murdered, her mother is still going to the court and asking for Justice. In Hatton (April 2015) a 5-year-old girl was raped, in Puttalam (January 2016) 26-year-old woman faced attempt to rape, in Gampaha (February 2016) 18 years old woman raped, In Gampalai (February 2016) Mother of 7 months child, raped by 10 men, In Vavuniya (February 2016)14 years old girl raped and murdered. Likewise all over the country and daily women and children are facing sexual violence.

Therefore, this year, let us all declare this International Women’s Day, the 8th of March, and the full Month of March, as Dark Days.

1. To declare violence against women and children, particularly sexual violence and murder, as a national crisis.

2. To enact pressure on all levels of government to put in place reforms and processes to ensure timely (we propose 3 years as the maximum duration for a trial to be conducted) Justice for sexual violence against women and children.

To immediately appoint special teams to handle the cases that are pending in the AG’s Department to bring them to trial.

Allocate sufficient resources to state services to strengthen preventative measures to reduce violence against women and children.

Specifically, we demand to provide strong powers and resources to the National Task Force on Violence Against Women established by the Prime Minister’s office on the 8th of March 2015 for the International Women’s Day to drive and oversee this process.

We also call for compliance with a guiding standard of victim-centeredness to be required for all judicial, law enforcement and service providing officers (including JMOs) to secure the safety, protection and dignity of women and ensure equal access to available services.

We are not accepting this anymore!

A country that is violent against women is dark

So, we all declare this March 8 as Dark Day

• We do not accept violence against women and children in our communities.

• We will not be those who commit violence against women and children.

• We will not allow our men to be perpetrators of violence against women and children.

• We will not stop until we get justice for violence against women and children.

In support of this pledge, we will fly black flags in our homes, shops, and offices starting on the 8th of March for the full Month of March.

On the 8th of March, we will wear black clothes and tie black armbands.

In the future, we wish to see a society free of violence against women and children