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Sixty percent of women throughout Sri Lanka are victimised by
domestic violence and 44 percent of pregnant women are also subjected to
harassment, as revealed by a recent survey by the Ministry of Child
Development and Women's Empowerment on June 19, 2006.
Minister Sumedha G. Jayasena says that although there are adequate laws to prevent such crimes, they are not implemented properly. She also points out that there is a lack of awareness among women of their rights, particularly in rural areas. On most occasions the women are ill-treated by their own spouses, who often indulge in such cruelty under the influence of liquor. Many women do not complain against domestic violence for social reasons and that has caused the cruelty to rise in manifold. Women make up 48% of the country’s total labour force. Seventy percent of Sri Lanka's total foreign exchange is earned by women. Almost half of the 1.2 million migrant worker population is women. Most of them go to Middle Eastern countries seeking housemaid jobs. _____________________________________________________________ |