COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office

7 MARCH 2012 SRI LANKA
Family planning/abortion
20.23 The USSD 2010 report 354 noted that: ―Couples and individuals were generally free to
decide the number, spacing, and timing of their children.‖
20.24 The UN Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women, Sri Lanka 355 , noted that:
―While the Committee acknowledges the achievements of the State party in the area of
maternal healthcare, it is concerned about the limited knowledge of reproductive health
and the low rate of use of contraceptives, the high level of teenage pregnancies
especially in less developed and conflict-affected areas, as well as the low accessibility
to family planning and the increase in prevalence of HIV/AIDS infection among women.
The Committee is also concerned that abortion is a punishable offence under the law,
unless the purpose is to save the life of the mother and regrets that about 10 percent of
maternal mortality is reported as the direct result of clandestine abortion.‖
20.25 The State of the World‘s Children 2011 356 reported that in Sri Lanka the percentage of
―Women aged 20–24 who gave birth before age 18… ‖ for the period 2000-2009 was 4
per cent and that: ―[the] Adolescent birth rate – Number of births per 1,000 adolescent
girls aged 15–19… ‖ was 28.
20.26 The Centre for Reproductive Rights, Women of the World: South Asia, Sri Lanka
chapter 357 website undated, accessed on 1 June 2011 observed that:
―There are no laws or policies that require individuals to accept family planning
measures…The National Health Policy calls for the government to ensure the right of
men and women to be informed about and have access to their choice of safe, effective,
affordable, and acceptable methods of family planning…The Women‘s Charter issues
several directives to the state with regard to women‘s right to family planning. It enjoins
the state to ensure:
� ―women‘s right to control their reproduction and their equal access to information,
education, counselling, and services in family planning, including the provision of
safe family planning devices and the introduction and enforcement of regulations
relating to their safety; and
� ―family planning policies are equally focused on men and women.
354 US State Department 2010 Human Rights Report: Sri Lanka (USSD 2010), released on 8 April 2011,
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/sca/154486.htm , date accessed 11 May 2011, Section 6
355 UN Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women,
Sri Lanka 355 , 4 February 2011 http://www2.ohchr.org/tbru/cedaw/CEDAW-C-LKA-CO-7.pdf , date
accessed 25 May 2011, p7
356 UNICEF’s The State of the World’s Children 2011: Adolescence – An Age of Opportunity
http://www.unicef.org/sowc2011/pdfs/SOWC-2011-Main-Report_EN_02092011.pdf date accessed 31
May 2011, Table 11
357 Centre for Reproductive Rights, Women of the World: South Asia, Sri Lanka chapter, undated
http://reproductiverights.org/sites/crr.civicactions.net/files/documents/pdf_wowsa_srilanka.pdf date
accessed 1 June 2011, p212-213 & 216-217
The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February 2012.
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section
to 2 March 2012.
141