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Attorney General Eva Wanasundara who delivered the keynote address at the International Women’s Day celebrations held at the Temple Trees on March 08, 2012,emphasized the significance of laws regarding women in Sri Lanka.

She said that this year is quite noteworthy to Sri Lankan women since for the first time in the country’s history; the legal field is governed by women. The legal field is cradle rocked by women today. The highest positions in the law field, Chief Justice, Attorney General, Legal Draftsman and the Secretary to the Ministry of Justice are all held by women.

According to Wanasundara, when looking through the legal eye the main document addressing the protection of women’s rights, the United Nation’s Universal declaration clearly states that women should not be treated differently. The constitution of Sri Lanka too clearly states that women should not be treated differently based on gender. If women are discriminated based on gender by government officials, it would be a human rights violation.

As she noted, when looking at the society, it is evident that institutions of justice are approached by hundreds and thousands of women seeking legal aid. Sexual harassment against women and domestic violence are the common fate for many women.

“I should say that most of the young girls are subjected to sexual violence when they lose their mother’s love and care. In most cases of sexual abuse, young girls fall prey as they try to seek love from the outsiders which they must receive from home. It is evident that many mothers knowingly or unknowingly let their daughters wander freely. Most of the times sexual abuse is not committed by strangers, but usually the culprit is a close person such as, mother’s second husband, neighbor, shop owner, tuition teacher, a member of the clergy or a boy friend. So I highly advise mothers to look after their daughters well.

Because even when the predator is convicted does that reduce the humiliation disgrace your daughter faces?” she quesrioned.

“Under the Sri Lankan law, any sexual act with a 16 year old girl, with or without her consent is considered rape. When such person is convicted for an act of rape, this becomes a lesson to society to decrease the occurrence of rape.

However it is a well-known saying that once a girl is raped and she heads to court then she has been raped twice. What this means is that by having to open up her soul in the name of

law, she is scared of life. No matter how cruel the act is, it is the complainant’s responsibility to prove it in front of the law beyond reasonable doubt”, Wanasundara said.

She convinced the fact that, being in a civilized and a ethical society, abuses must not be taken place and even if they occur our duty is to look at the problem is a better manner considering the victim as our own daughter or sister. Since the society condemns and insults the victims, they are often reluctant to come forward and seek legal aid.

She explained that the situation becomes worse if a girl gets pregnant due to rape. She highlighted that, today’s discussions among expert groups which take place in Sri Lanka headed by Secretary to the MCDWA, whether any 16 year old impregnated by rape after a medical examination should be granted a legal abortion is a timely need. According to her, when above the age of 16 a sexual act to be considered rape, whether her consent was given or not is eminent. It is the court which decides whether consent was given or not. This takes time and by the time pregnancy may have come to term. So there is a practical difficulty in granting a legal abortion in such cases.

Another main issue women face is, domestic violence which has become a part of some older women’s lives. They keep silent which makes the situation worse.

Most probably this happens because wife loses her voice in the face of her husband’s financial power, social power and professional status. It is better to find a solution through negotiations without seeking legal aid at once. The other case is sexual violence against women which could be in form of words, looks, glances or in physical acts such as rape.

“I know well that even though there are laws and punishments for these acts, the time it takes to finish the legal work increases a victim’s mental stress by 2 or 3 folds. 40 percent of the cases in our High Courts are cases of sexual abuse against children and women. Since the same courts hear other criminal cases in the country it takes time to finish cases regarding sexual abuse”, she stated.

Her personal belief is, laws and punishments are not the ultimate solutions for these problems.

But women themselves can also be wise to get rid of the problems. Education is the best tool to uplift women’s status.

Women as a whole should aim to use their capabilities to move forward, build social skills and receive decision making authority similar to men.

A voice for men

Almost a week after the world celebrated International Women’s Day, the question continues to be asked, mostly by men, if there is an international day for men too? Surprise! Yes, there is.

But few of us know there is one. Thus it was that the Twitter sphere was abuzz with questions in the wake of March 8, which saw the world celebrating women’s political, social and economic achievements. “In the interest of fairness and equality shouldn’t there be an International Men’s Day as well?” asked one Tweet. “Why do women have an international celebration and not men?” questioned another.

Yet others made statements: “Men’s contributions and concerns deserve a day of recognition in their own right”, said one. “Dear clueless men lamenting the lack of an International Men’s Day, there is one. Independence Day” suggested another.

Yet, inevitably, the commonest responses to the question, when is International Men’s Day, were the stock replies: 1)ÓI thought every day was International Men’s Day!Ó2) “the other 365. lol”.

There are few among us who would dispute this statement. It is a fact that for 365 days a year, men dominate almost every public sphere in society from politics to economics to the entertainment industry and sport.

But for a growing number of men, apparently the issue that matters is not who is doing the talking, but what they are (not) talking about. For individually or collectively, the one thing men would like to do but has never been given the chance to do so, is talk about their problems.

According to the New York Times of Feb, 24, 1969 calls for an International Men’s Day have been going on since at least the 1960’s when it was reported that “Many men have been agitating privately to (have an) International Men’s Day, the equivalent of March 8, which is International Women’s day”. But it was only in 1999 that a date was set to celebrate IMD, with the UN’s blessings.

“International Men’s Day has the potential to become the global medium to heal our world. The concept and

International Men’s Day Symbol

themes of IMD are designed to give hope to the depressed, faith to the lonely, comfort to the broken-hearted, transcend barriers, eliminate stereotypes and create a more caring humanity. Since its inception, IMD has blossomed into a movement which promotes goodwill and positively transformed the lives of many persons. Every year I am overjoyed to witness and read testimonies of persons who genuinely believe that the observance of IMD has resulted in greater stability in their lives and guided them from darkness into light.”

Dr. Jerome Teelucksingh,

Founder, International Men’s Day

The founder of International Men’s Day was Dr Jerome Teelucksingh, an academic from Port of Spain, Trinidad, who envisioned one day of the year when the world would address male gender-specific problems and celebrate positive male role models. On the date of his late father’s birthday, 19 November, he organised an event at Port of Spain University. In the 12 years since, International Men’s Day (IMD) has spread to at least 50 countries, yet despite winning the approval of the UN, it is far from the best publicised or funded event on the global calendar.

So what should be up for discussion on IMD ? Male-specific health issues are the most obvious answer. Sociologists also point out that the day should focus on political issues: toleration of prison rape; child visitation and custody policy; underachievement of boys in education; death and injury at work; provision of domestic violence and abuse services to male victims. They also suggest the day should be an occasion when men may highlight discrimination against them and celebrate their positive achievements and contributions to communities, places of work, friendships, families, marriages, and child care.

Advocates of IMD (as opposed to those who do not think such a day is necessary) also say that society would benefit as a whole from an annual opportunity to acknowledge the breadwinner of the family or the father who stays at home to look after the children. Or in a more traditional vein, the men who risk their lives daily as fire fighters or security officers, doing the most dangerous and frightening jobs, often with scant recognition.

As writer Ally Fogg points out in his article “Mocking International Men’s Day only proves it is needed”, “there is plenty to admire and cherish in traditional masculine roles, from courage and strength to stoicism and self-sacrifice, and the key may be to find ways to incorporate the best of what we used to be with the best of what we would like to be.

To do so requires opening spaces for discussion, not being afraid to lift the lid on some wormy cans, and talk positively about what it means to be a man. IMD might be a good place to start.”

Equal rights to land vital

She is a Mother, wife, she is a daughter, she is a sister, she is a friend, she is an employee and she is a boss but above all she is a woman. The Global initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is a non profit, non governmental organization registered in the United States in 2011, takes an interest in all women. The Global Initiative has a special interest in advancing women’s land and property rights. The realization of women’s ESC rights can itself be transformative , not only in ensuring that women’s immediate material needs are met , but also in fundamentally reshaping unequal power relationships.

We know that certain rights are especially transformative from the standpoint of women’s empowerment, including equal rights over housing, land and property. For women, advancements on these critical issues is more than about poverty alleviation, it is about uplifting women’s status in a fundamental way and about ending women’s subjugation on the basis of gender.

“Equal rights to land are vital to gender equality, and to empowering women. These rights enable women to build a better life for themselves and their families, to secure an income and to put food on their tables. These rights enable women to gain access to many benefits and services the state and others may offer, such as credits, loans, mortgages and housing” said Consultant,Global Initiative on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, Shyamala Gomez at a recent panel discussion.

The Head of the Household concept is particularly detrimental towards women in this regard. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women Committee has recommended that the Head of the Household concept should be abolished from administrative practice in Sri Lanka due to the following findings of the committee:

* Gender stereo typing of women is common among the general public and the media and leads to the discrimination of women by men.

* HoH is generally considered to be a male, and females in families are marginalized as a result of that assumption

* Many women who were widowed due to the conflict and the Tsunami of 2004 are prevented from accessing services offered by the state due to the use of HoH concept in administrative practice

* When the state issues land ownership certificates, they are issued to the HoH. Due to the assumption that a man is the HoH, women have been prevented from acquiring ownership of such land.

* The status of women heads of households should be improved by the state through tailor made policies and programs

* That measures should be adopted to promote a positive and non- stereotypical image of women in Sri Lankan society

Today women are routinely excluded from land ownership, and land titles are most often registered only in the names of men as they are considered the Head of the Household.

Banks’ macho culture ‘holds women back’

Fall in number of women at management board level last year, 17 FTSE 100 firms had no top female executives.

Banking’s “macho culture” is the biggest barrier to women reaching the top, according to a report published arguing that quotas for women executives are not the solution for Britain’s unbalanced boardrooms.

The Institute of Leadership and Management, UK warned that organisations are “filtering out” top female talent at all levels.

Charles Elvin, its chief executive, said enforced quotas to increase the number of women executives are “patronising” and unpopular with both sexes. Instead he called for changes to attitudes and management processes, more flexible working, and a genuine meritocracy. The ILM’s survey of 800 men and women found that nearly half of women working in banking believe they face career barriers because of their gender, and more than one-third of men agree. Nearly three-quarters of women, and half of men, blamed the attitudes of senior male managers.

The greater number of men in senior roles, organisational culture, lack of flexible working opportunities and shortage of female role models were seen as the other main barriers to women’s career progression.

The ILM survey is published a day before the Cranfield School of Management releases its annual Female FTSE report, on the number of female executives on the boards of Britain’s top 100 companies. It will show whether the City will hit the government’s goal for 25% of boardroom directors to be female by 2015.

Research from the recruitment firm Korn/Ferry Whitehead Mann found that female representation on the management board, which sits just below the main company board, actually fell by 2.2% last year, despite an increase at the most senior level from 12.5% to 15%. It said 17 FTSE 100 companies have no female executives on the management board, including Associated British Foods, WM Morrison, Shell, Tate & Lyle and Schroders.

Rather than a single “glass ceiling”, the ILM sees a series of barriers that filter out female talent at each stage of the management hierarchy, mainly due to the attitudes and behaviour of senior managers.

Elvin spoke of a form of brain drain. “It is in danger of being really quite a dreadful waste if you are losing very, very competent people all the way through the process, several steps before the board,” he said.

Overall, 87% of women felt that some form of positive action was needed, compared to two-thirds of men. Flexible working was identified as the number one solution by 68% of women, compared to 42% of men.

Just 19% of women and 10% of men felt quotas should be introduced to increase the number of women in senior roles.

Elvin said the government should lead the way by training the managers in government-funded organisations to “manage flexibly” across both genders – focused on “achieving objectives rather than sitting in your seat” – and to make sure employees are hired and retained on the basis of merit.

“It is completely inappropriate for people to look at a person of child-bearing age in a different way,” he added. Women tended to be less confident, partly due to a lack of female role models, and needed more support, he added.

‘Education, best tool to uplift women’s status’ -AG

A voice for men

Equal rights to land vital

Banks’ macho culture ‘holds women back’

- Guardian.co.uk