WUNRN
SRI LANKA - BLEAK FUTURE FOR
FEMALE-HEADED HOUSEHOLDS
Direct Link to Full Report: EVERYDAY
RESISTANCE - FEMALE HEADED HOUSEHOLDS IN NORTHERN SRI LANKA
By Raksha Vasudevan
Women need more support to stand on their own. Photo: Dominic Sansoni/World Bank
“There is little evidence that the unique vulnerabilities faced by
female-headed households are being considered in the government's policies,”
said Raksha Vasudevan, author of a just published report on female-headed households in the
north.
“Although they may benefit eventually from the reconstruction of infrastructure
and the opening of economic trade activities with the south, for now, it is
mostly men who have accessed income-generating opportunities from these developments.”
Researchers and humanitarians working with female-headed households, estimated
at over 40,000 by the Centre for Women & Development (CWD)
in
“The research found that these vulnerabilities [of female-headed households]
were simultaneously exacerbated by, and contributed to, psycho-social trauma
and an ongoing fear of an unknown future,” the report said. The precarious
economic situation also made these women targets of sexual abuseand
exploitation. “With many still lacking homes with locking doors, they felt very
exposed to attack at any moment,” the author said.
Women whose husbands or partners were killed in the war say they are still
struggling to make ends meet, while some continue to spend what meagre
resources they have to locate their missing loved ones.
Seetha Kurubakaran, from the town of Paranthan in Kilinochchi District, said
she had tried to seek work in various fields - from construction to the civil
service (as a clerk) - but without success. All the jobs she sought went to
men.
“I don’t want anyone to favour me, but my situation is such that I need a job.
I need to feed my family,” the mother of two, said.
Out of desperation she took up sewing dresses at home, but her monthly income
is less than US$40. “I live [on] handouts, money my distant relatives living
abroad send me,” she said.
Her concern is that her family’s generosity - and ability - to help her is
being depleted.
There are no official statistics on unemployment rates in the north, but
researchers and analysts believe it could be 10-20 percent, if not higher.
Under-employment, where people earn less than a dollar a day, is also believed
to be as high as 30 percent.
Ajith Nivard Cabraal, the governor of the Central Bank, told IRIN that since
the war ended, the government had invested $3-4 billion in the north, with
multimillion dollar construction contracts awarded to build back from almost
nothing in some parts.
“Even from a low [reconstruction] base the 20 percent growth rate is
impressive,” he said.
However, most of the large infrastructure development projects are centred on
the main A9 highway that
runs through the middle of
Discrimination
Meanwhile, many women are trying to do something about their situation in what
the report described as “an impressive sign of their resilience”.
“Through a variety of strategies that they employ in their everyday lives,
these women endure, contest and resist the structures of domination imposed
upon them. These strategies include creating innovative livelihood
opportunities for themselves, accessing alternative support sources, tapping
into family networks/kinship structures, various community praxes of solidarity
and resistance, and finding ways to normalize both the extraordinary
circumstances in which they live and the uncertainties they face,” said the
study.
“During the war and even before that the practice of women breadwinners was
very rare,” said CWD head Saroja Sivachandran. “Even the limited job market
still functions on that assumption.”
“They are clearly discriminated against in hiring for most jobs, even though
they are willing to work in non-traditional roles, and also face more
difficulties than men in accessing credit,” Vasudevan said.
Rupavanthi Ketheeswaran, the top government official in Kilinochchi District,
agreed the situation was difficult for women, but said the authorities were
working to ease their economic plight. “We will always go that extra step to
help out in getting loans and other assistance to these women,” she said,
citing special preference on self-employment schemes, seed assistance for home
gardens and the distribution of cattle.
However, such schemes should be far more wide-spread if they are to provide
women with the sense of purpose and control over their daily lives they now
need, said Sivachandaran.
“Female headed households should be recognized as a special needs group at the
highest policy-making level,” she added.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam fought against the government from 1983 to
2009 for an independent Tamil homeland in northern