COLOMBO : A group of social activists and women have urged President Anura Kumara Disanayake to give the National Women’s Commission with the political and financial space and means to function independently
In a petition addressed to the president ,it is pointed out as political activists working with numerous communities across Sri Lanka, ” we have been observing increasing incidents of violence against women in the last few months. Violence at home, at the workplace, in public spaces and online continues unabated. Even the Prime Minister of the government you lead has not been spared from sexualised abuse and attacks online. Most recently, several women including Swasthika Arulingam have been subjected to sexualised verbal attacks online by Member of Parliament Ramanathan Archchuna.
In order to submit complaints regarding these incidents, we attempted to reach the National Women’s Commission, whose members you recently appointed. The Commission has the power to, among other things, inquire into and investigate the infringement of women’s rights and receive complaints. We were, however, unable to find any way to reach the Commission, and upon making enquiries, were credibly informed that the Commission only exists on paper. The Commission has not been allocated a budget; does not have an independently situated office space; and does not have any staff or resources to function. It does not even have an official seal.
Further as a response to a recent RTI request submitted by M Juwairiya, your Secretariat has forwarded the RTI request to the Information Officer of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. This conduct of your Secretariat sent a clear indication to us, that the paper nomination of the National Women’s Commission is already made subordinate to a Ministry, which clearly violates the purpose, mandate and independence of the National Women’s Commission.
The Commission is the result of hard-fought battles by many women of our time. You as the Executive President responsible for appointing the Commission violate your Constitutional mandate by deliberately leaving the National Women’s Commission inoperative. As a result, you also become responsible for enabling the culture of misogyny and sexism to further spread in our society without legal protections for victims. As women and as victims of gender based violence we find this conduct of yours unconscionablWe demand that you enable the National Women’s Commission to function by allocating it sufficient finances, resources and an independent office space. We further demand that the National Women’s Commission be given the political and financial space and means to function independent of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. We further demand that you provide a timeline as to when these measures will be taken and when the Commission will become fully operative. We look forward to your response at the earliest.”
