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