COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office

SRI LANKA 7 MARCH 2012
police do not consider domestic violence a serious matter and especially in
undermanned stations they are likely to neglect cases of domestic violence or put them
low on the priority list… Even though a police officer has the authority to issue a PO
[Protection Order] on an aggrieved person it is very unlikely he will do so.‖
20.59 The same source 390 added:
―Another big challenge of the effectiveness of the Act is the lack of victim protection.
Most women depend almost solely on their partner economically. They have no means
to provide housing for themselves and their children or to sustain their livelihood, which
means the alternative to a violent husband is homelessness.
―No shelter or housing is offered by law enforcers or by the legal system itself. The law
stipulates that the court may order, if the aggrieved person requests, that she can be
placed in a shelter or provided with temporary accommodation. However, only private
organizations such as Welcome House, Women‘s Development centre in Kandy,
Women In Need and the Salvation Army run shelters for abused women and children.‖
―Magistrates are reluctant to refer abused women and their children to privately run
shelters, who they do not always find accountable. The judiciary would be more likely to
refer women to state run shelters. Besides, the rights of a woman for adequate housing
should not only focus on shelter options for her, but also the possibility of removing the
violent partner.
―It is nevertheless an extremely hard choice for a woman to choose to live her life in
shelter, even for those who can afford it, due to fear of harassment, loss of status, social
stigma or concerns of the children‘s future.‖
20.60 The website of the online forum South Asian Women‘s Network (SAWNET) (accessed
on 3 February 2012) lists several organisations operating in Sri Lanka dealing with
problems faced by women.
See also Rape/domestic violence
20.61 A BHC letter dated 30 January 2012 391 , noted that:
―Government assistance for the victims of rape is weak, although there have been some
signs of improvement. The country has acknowledged it has a problem and several
years ago the Sri Lanka Police Service Children & Women Bureau was created to deal
with complaints. An Inspector of Police (IP) for the bureau told us that there are now 42
Children and Women‘s Bureau office desks operating across the island and following
the end of the civil conflict new office desks had been opened up in the North and East.
The headquarters of the Children and Women‘s Bureau is situated in Pagoda, Colombo.
Female sub Inspector officers have been assigned to each of the 42 desks and they
have received training in how to record a complaint sympathetically and how to refer a
victim to a suitably equipped hospital. There does not appear to be long-term assistance
given to rape victims although there are several NGOs that provide pastoral care but
390 Asian Human Rights Commission, Sri Lanka: The right without remedy -- views and reflections on
the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act, 20 October 2010 http://www.humanrights.asia/news/ahrcnews/AHRC-ART-110-2010
date accessed 8 June 2011
391 British High Commission Colombo, Letter dated 30 January 2012
154 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.