How Could I Report This?

 This post by *Anonymous* outlines multiple incidents of abuse and violation, experienced in Sri Lanka. The writer explains how debilitated and degraded these experiences have made her feel, and the isolation of not being believed by her family, leaving her to carry the injustice and shame of having been mistreated, into her early twenties. As she says, she is worried that the stigma will compromise her employment opportunities, at a time when her life should be opening up.

I would like to stay anonymous.

My country of origin is England (migrated to Sri Lanka at a very young age)

 

The question really is, which incident do I elaborate on? Tragically, I can't count the number of times I've been sexually assaulted in Sri Lanka.

 

It started when I was 8 years old, when my maid molested me. When my parents were out at night she would sleep next to me until they came back, she undressed me and kissed me which is all I can remember. It was a repressed memory that resurfaced ten years later and I don't know for how long or how many times it happened.

 

The next time, I was 13 years old when my tutor molested me. Whilst tutoring me he would ask me what material my shirt was made out of and proceeded to act as though he was feeling the material while reaching inside my shirt and my bra to feel my breasts. This went on for a couple of months before I started flunking my tests and thus changing my tutor.

 

I was 15 years old when I was molested for the third time in my life. The trainer in the gym while stretching me would finger me through my pants. He was 6'2 and I was afraid, he was one of the best trainers and I wanted to get into the national team, perhaps to prove myself worthy so I endured it for months and then gave up on sports completely. I haven't been inside a gym since, I am 22 now.

 

I hadn't spoken a word of this to anyone, it was eating me alive from the inside out. Slowly the trauma and then deafening silence of it started manifesting itself in the form of depression. I was 16 years old with cuts on my wrist and slashes on my thigh trying to make sense of what happened. Alas, I couldn't take it anymore. I attempted suicide at age 16. When I woke up in the ICU the doctor came and asked me why I did what I did and that's the first time I ever spoke about it.

 

I went to therapy and worked on myself as much as possible to get through this and I'm doing much better now after processing it.

 

In relation to how it was handled, my father did not believe me. My mother listened but never addressed it. Society dishes out more shame on the victim than the abuser. Even as I sit here trembling whilst I type, I feel ashamed at what has happened to me. It is incredibly difficult to come forward EVEN whilst being anonymous, I don't know why anyone would doubt a child/adult if he/she/they comes forward with an incident/s like this.  If you have heard someone talking about instances like this, don't be so quick to doubt them!  If you are reading this and you have been abused my only plea is that you talk about it to someone because if you don't it could be seriously detrimental to your mental health.

 

A common misconception I find is that most people think that sexual abuse or rapes are only prevalent outside of Colombo. I've lived in central Colombo since I moved here and I can say that the previous statement is utterly false. I'm sad to say that most of the women that I've shared this experience with have often responded with "me too".

 

You may be wondering why I didn't speak up, why did I endure it? Well for me it was predominantly because it started before I had reached adolescence and I couldn't comprehend what they were doing to me when they were violating me and what they were gaining from doing so.

 

However even when I got older I realized how society shamed the victim, doubted the victim, dismissed the victim. The few times I did speak up, I was called a liar and they rushed to sweep my most traumatic memories under the rug.

 

How could I report this? Even now as I created a fake email address to send this in, I feel ashamed that I'm adhering to this narrative of shaming the victim and I'm not bold enough to put my name on it. I imagine what that would be like, if I did out my name here for the world to see... I know that from that point forward whichever restaurant I go to, I will turn heads and people will discuss amongst themselves that I'm the girl who wrote the letter,  associating my most traumatic memory with me when I know I'm so much more than what happened to me.

 

 I fear that if I go to job interviews that companies will be reluctant to employ me because I'm "too sensitive and take everything the wrong way". So if you're a victim like me, I'm sorry I wasn't courageous enough to put my name here so you can reach out to me and tell me what happened but I beg you, please tell someone, you'd be surprised at how many other women have been through the same.

End Sexual Violence Now: A Campaign Against Sexual Harassment in Sri Lanka

By Dinithi Gunasekera 

Sexual harassment has been a long overdue ill that has been plaguing not only the darkened nooks and crannies of our society, but the public streets in broad daylight. Police reports submitted to the United Nations from 2012-2020 record 142 cases of rape, 42 serious sexual abuse cases and 54 cases of child abuse just within the first 15 days of 2020, which are alarming numbers, to say the least.  

A study conducted by Amarasinghe et al (2004) at Maradana railway station uncovered that as many as 94% of women of varying age groups had experienced harassment on public transport.

In fact, recent studies that have been conducted suggest that this ill is having a devastating impact on the economy as a whole, as sexual violence has now come to the forefront not only as an issue concerning womens’ rights but as an issue that directly concerns 52% of our population, affirming the voices of brave survivors who have spoken out against this menace and strengthening the push for change brought forth by many activists.



Sexual harassment that takes place in industrial zones, from work place harassment, to harassment in law enforcement as settings that directly affect the economy, contribute to lower productivity and higher turnover and absenteeism and a plethora of other vexations that generate a direct negative downturn for the economy. 

Another such sphere that is affected is the tourism industry, one of the key contributors to the economy. Making this the issue the spark that illuminated the fire, a newly initiated campaign against sexual harassment to which well-known personalities such as the founder of Women in Need Caryll Tozer have displayed their support, has been a buzzing phenomenon on social media. Consultant Content Editor Dr. Devika Brendon was enthusiastic enough to share a few words with the Sunday Morning Brunch on the campaign.

Q1 - In a nutshell, how would you define this campaign? What does it do?

A1 – “We aim to end sexual violence, harassment and assault and make Sri Lanka a safe place to live and work. 

This is a collaborative campaign. We are equals in a collective: a synergistic posse. It’s a multi-faceted approach and we have activists, journalists and long-time community leaders on board including members of the Child Protection Force. They are people we have worked with before. We come from diverse family backgrounds and socio-economic strata. 

Our aim is to go beyond simply raising awareness of the issue to get tangible results and justice for victims. Most collectives and initiatives raise discussion on their platforms while also in the field, so we will work on using our knowledge and complementary experience to get practical results for victims, and improve the overall safety of our society. 

To be frank, many women and children and vulnerable persons have been silently putting up with abuse, and should do so no more.

Additionally, the country doesn't need a bad image that will stop tourists from making this a prime destination. We feel that the authorities need to step in now, and impose harsh penalties on offenders, and commence an awareness campaign in order to stop this.

This kind of behavior is an act against our nation and should be declared as such. We always were thought of as a friendly, hospitable country where people feel safe and relaxed, but now, how can a foreigner feel safe when even a Sri Lankan woman does not?

As I am a writer, editor and columnist in Sri Lanka, a foreign business owner contacted me a few months ago to ask for help in editing a letter she wanted to write. Her aim was to raise awareness of the widespread harassment faced by women in Sri Lanka, and the high degree of violence which seemed normalized in the country, which was affecting foreign tourists and thus the Tourism industry. The rape of a Russian tourist in Arugam Bay at the end of August 2020 is one such example.”

Q2- How do you think that this campaign will aid in being a part of the proactive solution for the sexual harassment menace in Sri Lanka?

A2 – “Like many of us, I’ve seen women expressing their outrage and offense regularly on social media at the street harassment they experience in the country, on roads and on public transport. Many of them say that there seems to be no way their concerns can be heard. We hope to provide a path to justice: a way that their stories can be safely shared and then publicly discussed, to highlight the fact that harassment makes people feel unsafe, and that it is something the country can address and remedy.

The group is made up of experienced volunteers who know how to navigate the process of change-making with regard to laws and general policies in Sri Lanka, volunteers who are passionate about making a difference with regard to the sexual harassment which is rampant in Sri Lanka. 

We are designing a social media campaign aimed at raising awareness of sexual harassment in Sri Lanka, and providing a space for those who have experienced harassment to tell their stories. We started by wanting to give a voice to a group that's often unjustly attacked or ignored: Foreign women. But of course, the violence experienced by tourists and visitors takes place in a wider cultural context - and the country itself as a whole need to become aware that even verbal intimidation and ‘non-contact’ harassment through gesture is a form of violence, and that systemic abuse and normalized violation of individual dignity not only lower a country’s reputation but damage the morale of its citizens. 

We have created designated email addresses to which incidents of abuse can be reported, and the incoming reports will be edited to protect the safety and privacy of those reporting, and collated into a dossier. (Endingsexualviolencenow@gmail.com /safesrilankanow@gmail.com)

Additionally we are experimenting with an app designed by one of our members which can be used to self-report in a variety of crisis situations, including natural disasters. A project I am part of is looking at it as a useful technology in the reporting of violence and harassment. 

We hope to approach the ministries of Justice, Police, Education (incorporating Women’s and Children’s Affairs) and Immigration, and the Secretary of Defense, and the Chairperson of the Tourist Board, and of course the Presidential Secretariat with this information, as part of a combined campaign of reform. 

The reports will provide the factual basis for specific recommendations to be made to the relevant authorities, so that action can be taken to improve the reporting and processing of incidents of harassment and assault, and reduce them in number. The document will also be made publicly accessible via digital media to raise community awareness that systemic reform is needed.

It makes us sad to hear that Sri Lanka is being described as dangerous to visit, and that travellers on international forums are advised to stay away from the country. This is a complex social issue, but with co-operation and commitment, education and awareness, it can definitely be solved. 

The new government has shown its commitment to dealing effectively with other issues which affect our safety - terrorism and the pandemic - so we feel sure that they will approach this menace to the country in the same way, and urge all sectors of the country to co-operate to resolve the issue. It is not a minority issue. It affects all of us who live here and travel here. All of us want a #safesrilankanow. “

 

Q3 – So far, what has the public reaction towards the initiative been like?

A3 – “Our first callout via social media received a hugely positive response: the posts were shared hundreds of times on Facebook, and reports started coming into the emails from the first day. Many experienced people are reaching out to us to offer their skills, advice, support and encouragement. 

Both men and women are equally committed to the goal of making Sri Lanka a safe place for all. In the process, many of our own personal stereotypes and biases are being challenged, and dissolved, as we work together with our different experiences in our diverse fields and with a common goal. The younger generation are definitely fuelling the energy and enthusiasm, but the older members have resilience and practical wisdom and experience which are also great assets. 

So, the focus is both short term and long term, and it will be a long campaign to raise community awareness.

Our campaign goals are: 

1. To show that these incidents of harassment and assault are not one-off cases but examples of a systemic need for change. 

2. To raise the accountability and improve the training of police officers who are involved in hearing and recording complaints and charges.

3. To make sure penalties are imposed, and not waived by the justice system. 

4. To raise awareness that this is a national need for change, as the current situation is losing us reputation as well as revenue. 

5. To create an ongoing media campaign in which information is rolled out regularly over a period of the next 4 years.”

Q4 – Among the widespread sexual harassment cases in Sri Lanka, child abuse cases are shown to be the most vastly surging type, mostly left unresolved and even unreported, causing the survivors to be retraumatized repetitively for years and years.

 Do you plan to make separate special provisions/measures towards being attentive about child abuse?

A4 – “The issue of child abuse and familial breakdown is so endemic to the problem of harassment that we are in the process of creating a sister campaign to deal with that specific aspect. This has a separate logo, hashtag and email address centered on the idea of #endingsexualviolencenow in Sri Lanka. This campaign includes all local victims of abuse and violence, regardless of their gender orientation. 

We are hoping to work with CPF, UNICEF and organizations such as Grassrooted Trust, Bakamoono, Equal Ground, Sambol Foundation and Think Equal to create educational resources, support services and training courses specifically centered on sexual respect, consent, and ethics in regard to the formative beliefs about self and society that children learn from a young age. Emotional intelligence and emotional and psychological self-awareness and self-management are also skills that can be learned in their healing from trauma and abusive experience.”

Q5 – What are the challenges faced in moving forward with the campaign in the midst of the pandemic? 

A5 – “The reality is that lockdown means that - although you would think people’s exposure to street harassment is lessened, as most people are forced to stay at home - this restriction also increases their exposure to domestic violence and child abuse within the home. Unemployment, disrupted businesses and uncertainty lead to an increase in people’s frustration. This campaign hopes to raise community awareness of these issues in a timely way, and provide information and resources that can help people act to protect their safety.”

Ideally, sexual violence is not something women should have to endure under any circumstance. The community as a whole has to step up, irrespective of our differences for the wellbeing of all.

Healing from Violence Takes Time

The stories that are coming in to us by email are often sad and devastating in their details. We are editing them currently, and will start publishing them soon on this blog, as a record of what people in our community experience. Their testimony. 

The details of the incidents and circumstances are all different from each other, but the common thread is that those who experience violence, abuse and harassment find it a disruptive and demeaning experience in the long term. Reading their personal accounts, in their own words, we see that it takes some time to heal from the damage done to their trust and confidence as well as personal safety by violence inflicted on them. 

The fears, doubts and anxieties associated with the experience distort and damage the shape and quality of their lives. Often when events in the present trigger the memories they carry, they find themselves emotionally paralyzed - unable to act, or not able to respond to events in the present day with their full strength and vitality. The impairment of their capacity to trust also operates to make them cautious in reaching out for emotional connection, and affects their social happiness. 

This unfortunate and debilitating dynamic, developed over time, must be dismantled in order for a person to come to terms with their experiences, recalibrate and balance their mindset, and develop a positive and optimistic approach to the happy experiences that life has to offer. 

To break the continuity of the negative narrative takes commitment. Everyone deserves the right to justice - to recover what Violence has taken from them. Not only in terms of legal cases and police charges, and complaints and penalties and punishments, which are the more official, administrative aspects of the process of prosecuting violence. Today we recognize that the recovery of a human being from experiences of violence is not only physical but emotional, psychological and moral - the recovery of their personal dignity, and their capacity for joy.

Female Anger

People who speak out against violence against women are often described as ‘angry’. Angry feminists. Women warriors. Over-emotional. Out of control. The emotions of anger and frustration they express are not usually seen as a reasonable response to the injustices routinely experienced disproportionately by the female gender. Righteous indignation is something that is not often seen as relevant today.

 As we write this week’s post, we recognize the Hindu festival of Navratri, which honours female energy in the form of the Goddess (Shakti). One of Her aspects/avatars is that of the Goddess Kali, who is often depicted as exacting retribution against those men who unjustly seek to victimize or disrespect women.

 A greater contrast with the stereotypical image of shy, modest, self-effacing womanhood could not be imagined! Kali though is not simply a destroyer of evil; she is a protective mother figure, is responsible for the death of the illusory ego and can also be a powerhouse of unrestrained female sexuality who cannot be tamed. The fluid thought of Hinduism allows for a blending of several characteristics into one incredible figure, a powerful and all-encompassing femininity beyond the often juxtaposed binaries of the "traditional" soft and the "modern" enraged woman of western thought. 

Kali dancing atop Shiva, by Raja Ravi Varma (before 1906)

 In Western culture, a contemporary sculptor, Luciano Garbati has reimagined Medusa, from the stories of Greek mythology. Medusa was a lady with a beautiful face, but whose hair was made of poisonous snakes in a terrible example of victim blaming by Athena. Medusa was raped by Poseidon in Athena's temple in the poet Ovid's version of a much older myth. People who dared to directly look her in the eye were killed by being turned to stone.

 Why was she so malevolent? So angry? So dangerous?

 Medusa petrified (literally) and terrified men, and in the end, according to the legend, one of them used a mirror to turn her to stone and a sword to kill her. In this portrait of the reversal of that outcome, Medusa is shown with no armour or clothing, holding in one hand the head of her enemy.

 

Medusa with Perseus' head by Luciano Garbati 

This statue will be put up in public in the United States, opposite the County Criminal Courthouse at Collect Pond Park in New York, the very courthouse where Harvey Weinstein was recently convicted of multiple assaults on women.

Anger when justified and channelled with good purpose can be a powerful restoring instrument.

***********************************************************************************

Resources:

Why a New Statue of Medusa Is So Controversial

KALI – A MOST MISUNDERSTOOD GODDESS

Loving Paradoxes: A Feminist Reclamation of the Goddes Kali

The MWTH Project

 

The Ongoing Effects of Violence

One of the aspects of sexual violence that people who have been on the receiving end of it understand with great clarity is the ongoing impact it can have on a person’s attitude about themselves and the society they live in. The legal system tends to process incidents on a case by case basis, with an external focus, and treat each case as a ‘one off’: an event which takes place at a certain time and a specific place, and has a starting point and an ending point. The actual lived reality for the victim of violence is much less neat and organized. 

Inside the heart, mind and belief systems of the victim, the harm they have experienced in these incidents is often multi-layered: the assault or violation itself, and the way it and the disrespect they experienced was handled or mishandled or ignored or mocked or diminished by those witnessing it, or who are in charge of receiving and handling the complaints. 

The ongoing effects of trauma are confirmed by clinical psychologists and counsellors, but are often experienced privately, and silently, by the victims themselves, whose path to healing and regaining of personal equilibrium can be a long one. 

Perhaps one of the most stressful long lasting effects of traumatic incidents is the apprehensive attitude victims develop as a result of their experiences of harm: they were hurt, and that fear, shame and humiliation is not something they ever want to experience again. Their anxiety about this is often seen as compulsive, or obsessive, and because it is formed in response to the trauma, may not be easy for others to understand or assist them with.  

People respond, process and deal with the trauma in different ways: some become fearful, over cautious, afraid to leave home, or catch public transport or go near the place where the assault occurred. Some people deal with it matter of factly, and are able to mentally bury it or file it and say: ‘It happened, it’s over, that’s it. I’m going to move on.’ 

But whatever method of processing they use, many survivors of violence find that their view of the world, and specifically their own safety in the world, has changed for the worse. They find it hard to trust the good intentions of people, and often find themselves fearing the worst in ordinary daily situations, or becoming overly suspicious and over cautious in their dealings with others. A lot of the spontaneity and openness and sense of adventure that brings happiness to their lives is damaged. 

Violent experiences affect people long after the events themselves end. And the trauma shapes their attitudes. Expert counselling is not always easily accessible or affordable. And the skills required to heal and restore yourself to equilibrium after a violent incident are possible to learn, but take some time to take effect. 

By encouraging victims of sexual violence to tell their stories in their own words, we hope to provide a space in which this processing can take place, in a public but safe sphere. 

The fact that violence occurs is a social reality and a sad one; but the unprocessed psychological response to it is tragic, if it results in the victim’s joy in life, safety and happiness and freedom to connect with others being damaged in an ongoing way. 

Processing the traumatic impact is necessary for the victim’s future life: for them to really move on, and put the violent incident in a fuller perspective which will enable them to progress and have better experiences in their life - to balance out the negative impact of the violent incident/s. 

To process the trauma, it must be seen as significant, and not normalized or trivialized. But the personal impact of it must also be handled with skill, self awareness, courage and determination. 

The ability to progress in your life after the shocking experience of violence can be measured by the attitude you have towards what happens next. Are you hopeful or fearful? Can you overcome your residual anxiety to experience new opportunities and challenges? 

The violent incident/s should not have happened. And the person who experiences violence should not have to suffer the ongoing effects for the rest of their lives. Fortunately, today many people realize that they have control and choice over how they deal with what they have experienced. And they can learn skills to continually improve the quality of their lives after the experience, and increase the happiness they experience in their life after it.

Some Feedback on this Initiative

 This ESVN campaign has received some helpful and positive feedback from the general public, who have responded with questions which show clear understanding of the reality of the challenges experienced by victims:

‘For a person who has experienced sexual harassment it's tough enough for them to even tell a close friend, let alone share it with a stranger no?’

and

‘What is expected from this initiative? For certain stories shared, it might become clear where it was perpetrated, and the survivor will need to be careful of a backlash.’

This is why the stories are anonymous and are being edited to remove all personal identifying details of both victim and perpetrator. This is not a vindictive campaign designed to punish perpetrators. We hope to create a space for the incidents and the experiences they detail to become common knowledge. 

Some responders were concerned that the campaign would polarize the community:

‘It could be a men's issue too! Half joking! Men and women are both human beings, so perfection in any sphere is a mission impossible’.

and

‘...there's always that grey area as to who did what and is therefore to blame except in extreme or obvious cases - and the interpretation of harassment, which means different things to different people.’

 

Some were concerned that false accusations might be made:

‘It is a fact that while some cases are true, there are others made up by crackpots - men and women.’

 

But our commitment for the protection and security of those reporting has been recognized:

‘This is an excellent cathartic process for the victim. Should you also specify that the abuser (if known) is only identified by initials too? I am just uneasy that this would lead to a vigilante exercise naming/shaming/blaming endorsing a retributive vs restorative justice. Since this is a public domain what are the filters to protect everyone?’

And the deep-seated causes of the normalization of disrespect and the long-term effort needed to remedy it is something many people are aware of. There is no quick fix for this:

‘Saying Stop! does not end the problem. One has to understand the underlying causes and address them by communicating with the perpetrators, victims and other stakeholders.’

Any clarification needed on individual posts (eg regarding factual details of how the incident was reported/handled) will be privately requested by the editors. And all personal identifying details which could threaten the privacy and safety of the victim will be removed prior to the incident being posted on the blog.

Artwork credits

Interview and Flyer

 

Q1 – In a nutshell, how would you define this campaign? What does it do?

We aim to end sexual violence, harassment and assault and make Sri Lanka a safe place to live and work.

 

Is there a chief/pioneering founder of the campaign?

This is a collaborative campaign. We are equals in a collective: a synergistic posse.

Our aim is to go beyond simply raising awareness of the issue to get tangible results and justice for victims. Most collectives and initiatives raise discussion on their platforms while also in the field, so we will work on using our knowledge and complementary experience to get practical results for victims, and improve the overall safety of our society.

To be frank, many women and children and vulnerable persons have been silently putting up with abuse, and should do so no more.

 Even through the recent war, no foreigner was ever targeted, or harmed on purpose, and the country doesn't need or want a bad image that will stop tourists from making this a prime destination.

We feel that the authorities need to step in now, and impose harsh penalties on offenders, and commence an awareness campaign in order to stop this.

This kind of behaviour is an act against our nation and should be declared as such.

We always were thought of as a friendly, hospitable country where people feel safe and relaxed, but now, how can a foreigner feel safe when even a Sri Lankan woman does not?

I am a writer, editor and columnist in SL, and a foreign business owner contacted me a few months ago to ask me to help her edit a letter she wanted to write. Her aim was to raise awareness of the widespread harassment faced by women in SL. And the high degree of violence which seemed normalized in the country. And which was affecting foreign tourists and visitors, and thus the Tourism industry.

At the end of August, the rape of a Russian tourist caused great concern in the local community in the Arugam Bay Area. The other lady and I discussed creating a campaign to address the issues of abuse and harassment that menace our society.

 Sri Lanka unfortunately has high levels of child abuse, domestic violence, and gender-based harassment. Underlying attitudes of misogyny are now starting to be directly challenged, and women are starting to receive the respect and recognition they deserve in society. Our campaign operates directly in that space.

How was it that the group of people who are involved, collectively gathered to be a part of a singular campaign such as this?

For this to succeed, it needed to have a multi-faceted approach. We have activists, journalists and longtime community leaders on board, including members of the Child Protection Force. They are all people we know, and have worked with before. We have respect for each other’s commitment to the long term progress of the country. We come from diverse family backgrounds and socio-economic strata.

 

Q2- How do you think that this campaign will aid in being a part of the proactive solution for the sexual harassment menace in Sri Lanka?

Like many of us, I’ve seen women expressing their outrage and offense regularly on social media at the street harassment they experience in the country, on roads and on public transport. And many of them say that there seems to be no way their concerns can be heard. We hope to provide a path to justice: a way that their stories can be safely shared and then publicly discussed, to highlight the fact that harassment makes people feel unsafe, and that it is something the country can address and remedy.

The group is made up of experienced volunteers who know how to navigate the process of change-making with regard to laws and general policies in Sri Lanka, volunteers who are passionate about making a difference with regard to sexual harassment which is rampant in Sri Lanka.

We are designing a social media campaign aimed at raising awareness of sexual harassment in Sri Lanka, and providing a space for those who have experienced harassment to tell their stories. We started by wanting to give a voice to a group that's often unjustly attacked or ignored: Foreign women. But of course the violence experienced by tourists and visitors takes place in a wider cultural context - and the country itself as a whole needs to become aware that even verbal intimidation and ‘non contact’ harassment through gesture is a form of violence, and that systemic abuse and normalized violation of individual dignity not only lower a country’s reputation but damage the morale of its citizens.

 

                                                         (Flyer design and caption from Mariam Peterson) 

We have created designated email addresses to which incidents of abuse can be reported, and the incoming reports will be edited to protect the safety and privacy of those reporting, and collated into a dossier. We hope to approach the ministries of Justice, Police, Education (incorporating Women’s and Children’s Affairs) and Immigration, and the Secretary of Defence, and the Chairperson of the Tourist Board, and of course the Presidential Secretariat with this information, as part of a combined campaign of reform.

The reports will provide the factual basis for specific recommendations to be made to the relevant authorities, so that action can be taken to improve the reporting and processing of incidents of harassment and assault, and reduce them in number. The document will also be made publicly accessible via digital media to raise community awareness that systemic reform is needed.

It makes us sad when we hear SL is being described as dangerous to visit, and that travellers on international forums are advised to stay away from the country.

This is a complex social issue, but with co-operation and commitment, education and awareness, it can definitely be solved.

The new government has shown its commitment to dealing effectively with other issues which affect our safety - terrorism and the pandemic - so we feel sure that they will approach this menace to the country in the same way, and urge all sectors of the country to co-operate to resolve the issue. It is not a minority issue. It affects all of us who live here and travel here. All of us want a #safesrilankanow.

 Q3- What are the pioneering demographics that are involved in the group of individuals that are a part of this campaign? (age group/social status/gender and etc.)

This is an inter-generational and intercultural initiative. The members range in age from 20 to 60, are gender diverse, many have formally studied feminism, peace and reconciliation, human rights and social justice, and are formally qualified in their professional fields. They include students, journalists, activists, corporate leaders, trained trauma counsellors, writers, educators and those who have been working in the area of women’s empowerment for decades.

 

Q4 – So far, what has the public reaction towards the initiative been like? Positives/Negatives.

Do the general public seem to be interested in actively taking part in campaigns such as this one or is it still the same demographics that seem to be taking part/are enthusiastic about it? Are there any gradual shifts in demographics within the participants?

Our first callout via social media a few days ago received a hugely positive response: the posts were shared hundreds of times on Facebook, and reports started coming into the emails from the first day. Many experienced people are reaching out to us to offer their skills, advice, support and encouragement.

Both men and women are equally committed to the goal of making Sri Lanka a safe place for all. In the process, many of our own personal stereotypes and biases are being challenged, and dissolved, as we work together with our different experiences in our diverse fields and with a common goal. The younger generation are definitely fuelling the energy and enthusiasm, but the older members have resilience and practical wisdom and experience which are also great assets.

So the focus is both short term and long term, and it will be a long campaign to raise community awareness.

1. To show that these incidents of harassment and assault are not one-off cases but examples of a systemic need for change.

2. To raise the accountability and improve the training of police officers who are involved in hearing and recording complaints and charges.

3. To make sure penalties are imposed, and not waived by the justice system.

4. To raise awareness that this is a national need for change, as the current situation is losing us reputation as well as revenue.

5. To create an ongoing media campaign in which information is rolled out regularly over a period of the next 4 years.

 

Q5 – Among the widespread sexual harassment cases in Sri Lanka, child abuse cases are shown to be the most vastly surging type, mostly left unresolved and even unreported, causing the survivors to be retraumatized repetitively for years and years.

What is the focus on child sexual abuse/harassment in this campaign?

Do you plan to make separate special provisions/measures towards being attentive about child abuse/harassment?

The issue of child abuse and familial breakdown is so endemic to the problem of harassment that it is central to our campaign. We have a logo, hashtag and email addresses centered on the idea of #endingsexualviolencenow to create a #safesrilankanow. This campaign includes all local victims of abuse and violence.

We are hoping to work with CPF, UNICEF and organizations such as Grassrooted, Bakamoono, Equal Ground, Sambol Foundation and Think Equal to create educational resources, support services and training courses specifically centered on sexual respect, consent, and ethics in regard to the formative beliefs about self and society that children learn from a young age. Emotional intelligence and emotional and psychological self-awareness and self-management are also skills that can be learned in their healing from trauma and abusive experience.

We strongly believe that victims of harassment must feel safe to tell their stories, and be heard and respected instead of maligned, shamed and ignored. Their security and privacy are protected by the fact that these email addresses are password restricted and the incoming emails are only accessible by 2 of the team. 

We are editing and presenting the stories so that all personal details of individuals are removed from the posts before they are publicly shared on the blog. Victims are often not believed when they speak about their experience, so we encourage everyone writing in to be as factual and specific as possible in their reports of what happened to them: the place, date, time, and setting. Who they went to for assistance. How their complaint was handled. Their actionable recommendations for how it could have been better dealt with.

Credit: This is an interview Dinithi Gunasekera from The Morning newspaper did with Devika Brendon on 27th September, 2020, about the campaign to End Sexual Violence In Sri Lanka.

Emails: endingsexualviolencenow@gmail.com and safesrilankanow@gmail.com