WUNRN
Asian Human Rights Commission
October 8, 2010
SRI LANKA: THE PREVENTION OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT - VIEWS & REFLECTIONS
Sofie
Rordam
In
In
The Act provides for the issue of Protection Orders by the Magistrate’s Court
to prevent an aggressor from inflicting harm to persons within defined
relationships inside the household as well as outside. Any person, irrespective
of gender, who is subjected to or likely to be subjected to domestic violence,
may seek a Protection Order (PO). On behalf of a child, a parent, a guardian or
a person with whom the child resides or a person authorized by the National
Child Protection Authority can also seek a
While the legislation is there, the effectuation is not. The gap between the rights
set out on paper and the daily life in the household is tremendous.
The problem is not a lack of legal instruments to protect women and girls from
violence including the domestic sphere. Gender equality and non-discrimination
of women are key principles of the Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution
from 1978. In 1981,
Neither is it a problem of lack of institutions to ensure the enforcement of
the declarations. Many state institutions and private organizations have been
established to work on the matter, including The Women’s Bureau of Sri Lanka
(1978); The Sri Lankan Women’s Charter (1993); the National Committee on Women
(1994), the provision of Ministry Status to Women’s Affairs in 1997 (from 2005
a part of the Ministry for Child Development and Women’s Empowerment), the
Centre for Gender Complaints at the National Committee on Women (1999) and
Women and Children’s Bureaus in Police Stations.
A family matter
However, the framework does not correspond with society. Culturally
Sandamani Munasinghe is a Sri Lankan Attorney-at-Law, who has worked as an
advisor to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL), several human
rights organisations and has assisted many human rights cases with senior
lawyers. She has also worked in the Women in Need organisation, which
particularly deals with the problems of women and children.
According to Munasinghe there is a great need for awareness about the Act, not
only its existence, but also a proper understanding of its functions.
Traditionally, family matters would never be dealt with publicly, women are
expected to protect the family under any circumstances and it is considered a
great failure and humiliation if they do not manage to do so. "When we
intervene on behalf of women the objection that has been brought is, are you
not hurting the institution of the family through this law? Is it not better to
settle these things privately and amicably? It is necessary to bring the matter
to court? So if even the lawyers take this kind of view, then we can see that
within society there cannot be that much appreciation of this law",
Munasinghe emphasized.
Not a police priority
This perception of women and their family roles penetrates most of the Sri
Lankan society including police stations, which are often very male-dominated.
Generally there is a little trust in the police system and many people fear to
go to the stations to make any kind of complaints. It has long been a
requirement that police stations contain a separate union for women and
children with female officers attached, but while most stations are undermanned
there are no resources to maintain the units.
The police do not consider domestic violence a serious matter and especially in
undermanned stations they are likely to neglect cases of domestic violence or
put them low on the priority list. The husband might have connections in the
station or be an influential person in the area. As a result, the enforcement
of a
As Munasinghe points out, "This law gives power to the police to intervene
in women's complaints. However, problems arise because of the nature of the
policing system in
Tamara, a mother, is one of these victims. She went to the police station to
report a case of domestic violence. She was told that the officer who was
dealing with cases on the matter was not there. The police made some inquiries,
but afterwards nothing happened. While she was at the station she saw another
woman who was talking about an incident where her husband got drunk and beat
her. The police went to arrest the man but returned, saying that they could not
find him. Later the woman returned to the police station to complain that her
husband was threatening to hurt her. According to Tamara the police officer
said, "So you haven't actually been beaten up yet, you are only afraid
that you will be beaten up? So come back after he beats you up".
The example clearly states how the prevention element of the Act finds no sympathy
within the police. Tamara concludes, "This is obviously not the right
attitude. If the woman gets beaten up, or perhaps even killed, then what is the
use of the police taking action then? A woman does not go to a police station
just for fun. She goes because things are very bad and even desperate."
An efficient system will in itself generate prevention, but major steps also
have to be taken to push forward for campaigns on prevention
Victim protection
Another big challenge of the effectiveness of the Act is the lack of victim
protection. Most women depend almost solely on their partner economically. They
have no means to provide housing for themselves and their children or to
sustain their livelihood, which means the alternative to a violent husband is
homelessness.
No shelter or housing is offered by law enforcers or by the legal system
itself. The law stipulates that the court may order, if the aggrieved person
requests, that she can be placed in a shelter or provided with temporary
accommodation. However, only private organizations such as Welcome House,
Women’s Development centre in
The NGO sector cannot be expected to take sole responsibility for the provision
of such services. Magistrates are reluctant to refer abused women and their
children to privately run shelters, who they do not always find accountable.
The judiciary would be more likely to refer women to state run shelters.
Besides, the rights of a woman for adequate housing should not only focus on
shelter options for her, but also the possibility of removing the violent
partner.
It is nevertheless an extremely hard choice for a woman to choose to live her
life in shelter, even for those who can afford it, due to fear of harassment,
loss of status, social stigma or concerns of the children’s future. In many
cases the need is for family counselling and advising and if the woman decides
to stay with her husband, the police and the courts should refer her to these
avenues.
Recognizing rights
The Prevention of Domestic Violence Act is a great step forward for the
recognition of the rights of women and the problems within the perception of
the social hierarchy of families in
For a woman to have the courage to go to the police station and file a
complaint, she needs assurance that she will be met with respect and a patient
hearing. She needs assurance that her case is taken seriously and inquiries
will be taken. Furthermore she needs a guarantee of protection through shelter
or housing to her and her children as well as proper counselling and support
during the court case.
As with so many other pieces of legislations in
# # #
About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is
a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights
issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.