‘You are Our Daughters’- Part II:

The troubling issue of sexual violence

Keynote address delivered by Dr. Subhangi M.K. Herath, senior lecturer in Sociology, University of Colombo at the ceremony held to mark the International Day of the Girl Child on October 11, 2012 at the BMICH

On the one hand, many social forces have emerged that is disadvantageous for the girl child and jeopardizes her and on the other, girl’s life is judged by puritan attitudes and dimensions of success. The challenge we are faced with is to protect her from both these extremes.

Sri Lanka also considers a female child below 18 years as a girl child. This is the period which the child spends more or less within the family and the school and most of this period, until about 12 years of age, the personality of the child is still taking form.

Until about 16 years of age, the child still could not have developed the capacity to take rational decisions all by herself and until 18 years of age she is considered as a child who is not physiologically developed enough to become pregnant. Sociologically, this period is considered as an age of dependence which means that it still is a period when the girl child should be socially and economically supported by the family, school and the community. Moreover, it is a period in which she should be encouraged to develop educational and social goals and supported her to reach them.

However, in reality, unlike boys, girls are subjected to all forms of discriminations. Despite the high level of participation of girls in education in Sri Lanka, her educational choices are obviously controlled by her social attitudinal formative process.

Wrong social attitudes

The aversion to mathematics and technical subjects even by girls who have proven to be intellectually outstanding is such a situation. Apart from this, factors including the distance to school, number of children in the family, family economic status, etc. hinder the girls’ choice in the field of education. The girl-child is confined to a limited space in the areas of sports and leisure.

The more complex and insecure the society, this space becomes further limited. Health and sanitation too is a field which imposes constraints on the girl-child. On the one hand, lack of opportunity to gain knowledge and discuss personal health issues, especially, issues related to adolescence per se, lead to sprouting crisis situations in the girl-child.

Physical and sexual threats and psychological predicaments encountered by girl children due to inadequate and inappropriate sanitary facilities during natural disasters and conflict related displacements provide evidence herein. Child employment also is a serious concern regarding girl children. Particularly, employment of underage girls as housemaids presents a severe hindrance to their future development.

The most serious of all is the violence against girl-child. Nature of violence could vary from the mere fact of debarring her from taking decisions on her own life to the extent that she is used as a sexual object.

Wrong social attitudes inculcated within the girl-child and similar attitudes that are prevalent in the society become the fundamental reason behind her being victimized due to heinous crimes such as child marriages, abductions, trafficking and prostitution, forced involvement in pornography, sexual abuse, rape and child pregnancies, sexual relations and pregnancies related to dating, incest and murder.

Presenting precise statistics on violence against girl-child is not an easy task, mainly because in recording and analyzing statistics, sex of the child has often not been taken into consideration.

However, according to the statistics from the Women and Children’s Bureau of the Police Department, out of the recorded crimes against children from the month of January to May 2012, there are reports on 557 rape cases and 291 cases of grave sexual abuse.

In the same period, 437 cases of sexual harassment, 318 abductions and 92 cases of child employment have been reported. Report of a study on gender based violence by Women’s Health Committee of the Sri Lanka medical Association reveals that there is a high risk of girls less than 12 years of age being subject to incest. Majority of them face the risk of being sexually abused by the father, brother or a close relative.

Injustice and discrimination

Recent reports on child marriage delineate the current situation regarding its incidence. Even though an obvious decline in reported child marriages was seen with the legal reforms in 1995 which increased the legal age at marriage to 18, research studies demonstrate that child marriages still continue to take place through tactics such as registering marriages under false ages or not registering at all.

These marriages could occur within or without consent.

The issue here is that child marriages could have a serious negative impact on the health and social development on the girl-child. Study report submitted to UNICEF on early marriage and statutory rape by Prof. Savithri Goonesekere and Dr. Harini Amarasuriya (2012), marriages and pregnancies between the ages 15- 19 continues to be a problem in Sri Lanka. Although the numbers are considerably low compared to many countries in the region, research reports show that many hidden incidents occur. The foremost danger in this regard is the pregnancies of girls.

Reports also indicate that child mortality rates related to such pregnancies are higher than the average child mortality rates in the country.

What is the final outcome of this fate that the girl-child encounters? It is not possible to trivialize the fact that it is a child that gives birth to another child compelling both children to face gloomy futures with uncertainty. Numerous oppressive situations the girl-child faces also contribute to deprive her of opportunities to develop herself as a strong independent woman.

The time has come to safeguard the girl-child and to ensure her future security by surmounting the elements which oppress her. She should be sensitized with the scientific knowledge on factors including sexuality, body and her supreme right regarding herself.

She should be made aware of her right and her power to develop herself as a wholesome human being. Existing legislative frame should be made more efficient and stronger by introducing the necessary amendments without further delay.

Our daughters ought to realize that although tolerance is a precious quality of life, uncritical forbearance of injustice and discrimination caused to your life cannot be considered patience but mere submissiveness and passivity. “My body and life are mine.

I am not ready to surrender them to someone else’s will”. This should be your motto guiding you in your journey to adulthood. Society needs to engage in a powerful discourse in this regard.Accepting the girl-child as a common social responsibility allows reckoning her as an individual capable of deciding for herself. It permits her the liberty to have a fulfilled life attended by the national and international regulations on the girl-child. It prevents parents and others taking parochial judgments on her life.

It is society’s absolute responsibility to guarantee her the right to enjoy her life as a child. You are our daughters. As of today, we will join hands to protect you and ensure your rights!

Concluded