Posers on women's safety

Do Sri Lankan women know what they can enjoy from the newly introduced legislation to ensure their safety and well being? Do they know that there are solutions to their endless sufferings and there is a way out? Do we have adequate facilities to implement the new legislation to be introduced soon to ensure women's well being?

These are some crucial questions to which we have to get answers. Most of the rural women in our country do not have any idea about what is available to ease their sufferings. They even think that bearing some sort of suffering is one of their duties. In some instances, such women think that ending those sufferings is an immoral thing to do and they have to suffer till suffering ends itself! This is the condition some of our rural women live in.

Some Sri Lankan women get abused within their homes and families because of alcoholic husbands, drug addict husbands, mothers-in-law suffering from an electra complex, other close relations of their husband who are jealous, addictive friends of their husband or the abnormal possessiveness of husbands.

Emotional abuse is the commonest form of abuse in households by some husbands and other family members. Preventing her from doing what she likes such as doing a job or going in higher education, wearing certain types of clothes, travelling to certain places and meeting certain persons, including her parents, and keeping up appearances are some forms of abuse.

Apart from that some alcoholic husbands beat their wives causing injuries and sometimes death. Sexual abuse is another common form of harassment within marriages and it is yet to be recognised in our country.

On the other hand, rural women lack awareness of latest legislation and other services introduced to ease their suffering. They do not know that there are laws and places (institutions) available to listen to them.

They do not know about obtaining counselling or any other professional assistance. Rarely do they go to the nearest police station and make a complaint when the pain is unbearable but the treatment they get from some police stations is pathetic. Most of the time their complaints are not recorded considering those as only 'disputes' between the husband and wife that lasts only for a while!

According to some of the legislation to be brought out soon in order to ensure the safety of women, they can go to courts and seek legal assistance against their abusive husbands.

But what will happen if the wife has to go home and live with the husband after making a formal complain against him ? This will lead to more torture and even to the death of the wife because no abusive husband is willing to appear before courts and get punished for his offenses. At present there are a few news reports on some husbands who killed their legal/illegal wives and hid their bodies in order to escape from the law.

To solve this problem the authorities have to provide safe temporary shelter for the women who lodge complaints against their abusive husbands. Since some Sri Lankan husbands think that staying one night outside home with or without his permission is an offence similar to committing murder, the place which provides safe shelter for such women should be run by the relevant State authorities. Then the husbands will not have accusations against their wives who stay at a State run institution.

Being free of torture, abuse and harassment is not only a woman's right but a human right recognised by the whole world. It is the duty of authorities to protect that right of both men and women.

Bringing in new legislation is the most practical and successful way of doing it apart from awareness raising, implementing different programs to improve social ethics and morals etc. But at the end the major role is played by the resources which help to implement the law properly. It is the duty of administrators to provide required training to the law enforcement officers and adequate resources to enforce the law.