{"id":49246,"date":"2012-07-23T19:07:16","date_gmt":"2012-07-23T19:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=49246"},"modified":"2012-07-27T18:47:49","modified_gmt":"2012-07-27T18:47:49","slug":"child-rape-on-the-rise-in-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/child-rape-on-the-rise-in-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"Child Rape On The Rise In Sri Lanka"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Feizal Samath\u00a0–<\/strong><\/p>\n

A spate of child rape cases in Sri Lanka has angered child rights activists and moved the government to consider tightening the relevant laws and making the offence punishable with the death sentence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A government statement released in parliament in May said that of the 1,450 female rape cases reported in 2011, child rape accounted for 1,169, alerting authorities and activists to a rising trend.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Earlier this month, police said in a statement that over 700 complaints of rape or abuse of children were filed in the first half of the year, and that, on average, at least four cases were\u00a0 being reported daily.<\/p>\n

But, according to the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA), the situation is far worse than what is being reported to the police and the authority estimates that over 20,000 cases of child abuse may occurred in the first half of this year.<\/p>\n

Among the reasons for such abuse, as reported in the NCPA statement, are insecurity of children, popularity of mobile phones with internet facilities among the youth, access to pornography, increasing substance abuse and lack of sex education.<\/p>\n

An October 2011 study of child abuse in Sri Lanka\u2019s north-central region \u2013 where unsettled conditions prevail following the end of three decades of armed separatist militancy in 2009 \u2013 \u00a0showed that 30 percent of the cases were of female minors (below 15 years) having consensual sex with a male partner.<\/p>\n

The balance 70 percent of cases were attributed to the \u201cstrength, power and dominance of perpetrators who could be relatives, teachers or religious dignitaries,\u201d a senior prosecutor at the attorney general\u2019s office told IPS asking not to be named. \u201cWhile we do our part, society also needs to take a serious look at this issue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The trend of powerful people preying on minor girls is not confined to the north and east of the island country. Recently, a 13-year-old girl identified four men, including a local\u00a0 \u00a0politician belonging to the ruling United People\u2019s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), of \u00a0gang raping her.<\/p>\n

Another UPFA politician, the head of the local council in the southern town of Akuressa, is presently in custody for the alleged abuse of a 14-year-old girl.<\/p>\n

The Women and Media Collective (WMC), a campaign group, has denounced these alleged crimes, saying Sri Lanka has become a society where \u201cperpetrators of heinous crimes against women and children can live with little fear of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Responding to such allegations, Tissa Karaliyadda, child development and women\u2019s affairs minister, told reporters earlier this month that he has drawn up plans to tighten the laws that deal with child abuse, including making it punishable with the death sentence.<\/p>\n

Authorities are also trying to sharply reduce the time taken \u2013 six years on average \u2013 to complete a prosecution, and thereby reduce impunity to offenders who often get easy bail.<\/p>\n

Dr. Hemamal Jayawardena, child protection specialist from UNICEF, Colombo, said the number of cases appear to have risen due to an increase in reporting centres, particularly in the former war-torn northern region. People are also more sensitive to this issue and coming forward with information, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think there are many runaways (under-age couples eloping) cases and sex with consent which appear in the first complaint (to the police) as suspected rape and provide somewhat misleading data,\u201d he told IPS.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Under Sri Lankan laws, those under 16 years are defined as minors and sex with a minor is considered rape, with or without consent.<\/p>\n

A maximum jail term of 10 years is imposed on offenders while the authorities are examining proposals to enforce the death penalty and make it a non-bailable offence.<\/p>\n

Under a project assisted by the United Nations Children\u2019s Fund UNICEF, law enforcement authorities are experimenting with a rapid three-month process involving selected courts across the island to reduce the time taken to dispose cases of child abuse or rape.<\/p>\n

Menaca Calyaneratne, director of advocacy at Save the Children\u2019s Colombo office, warns about a new breed of abusers called the \u2018professional perpetrator\u2019 who are \u201cprofessionals in their own fields but carefully choose an area to work that gives them unhindered access to children in order to abuse them.<\/p>\n

Fields such as education, sports, childcare organisations and children\u2019s institutions harbor predators such as principals, teachers and sports coaches are known to abuse their positions, she said adding that about 90 percent of child abuse is perpetrated by someone known to the victim.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used to tell children to be careful of strangers, but that does not seem to be valid anymore,\u201d Calyaneratne told IPS.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Lack of awareness of sexual and reproductive health among teenagers in villages is a serious problem. At a village, some 75 km north of Colombo, a social worker said there have been at least five cases reported this month of 13-15 year-old girls striking up affairs with 22-year-olds, mostly soldiers, and eloping.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen there is a problem, the girls come back and the parents file a complaint, it becomes a case suspected rape,\u201d the worker said asking not to be identified for fear of repercussions.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sri Lanka which had about 120,000 soldiers in 2008 more than tripled its troop strength in order to defeat separatist militancy and also ensure that there is no resurgence.<\/p>\n

Police blame parents for lack of supervision of their children while also citing women working abroad as domestics and leaving the children under the care of a relative as some of the reasons that lead to child abuse.<\/p>\n

Sumithra Fernando, director at Women in Need, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that works with battered women, says parents are often indifferent. \u201cThey are busy with their jobs and often unaware of what their children are up to,\u201d she told IPS.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s groups say it is important for fathers to take an interest in the welfare of their daughters.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a social obligation for the father to share responsibilities,\u201d argues Sepali Kottegoda, director at the Women and Media Collective. \u201cWhen a girl is abused it is the mother who is blamed \u2013 rarely the father,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSri Lankan society has also become very violent and the situation is such that women and children have become very vulnerable,\u201d Kottegoda\u00a0told IPS.<\/p>\n

Prof. Siripala Hettige from Colombo University, an eminant sociologist, \u00a0has a different perspective and links child abuse to young people steadily migrating from the villages to Colombo and other urban centres.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vast majority of school-leavers don\u2019t have proper jobs. They come to the city but can\u2019t hold down stable\u00a0employment. And with the average age of marriage steadily going up from 22 to 28, there are a lot of very frustrated people around,\u201d Hettige told IPS.<\/p>\n

This group of young people keeps moving around, looking for sexual opportunities, Hettige explained.<\/p>\n

Source: IPS |\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Related posts;<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s\u2019 Rights Group On Sri Lanka\u2019s 700 Sexual Abuse Of Girls<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Concern In Sri Lanka Over Rising Number Of Child Rapes<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":49247,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2187,1,2375],"tags":[2889,3158,3159],"class_list":["post-49246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-most-popular","category-news","category-stories","tag-child-abuse-in-sri-lanka-news","tag-child-rape-on-the-rise-in-sri-lanka","tag-related"],"yoast_head":"\nChild Rape On The Rise In Sri Lanka - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/child-rape-on-the-rise-in-sri-lanka\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Child Rape On The Rise In Sri Lanka - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/child-rape-on-the-rise-in-sri-lanka\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-07-23T19:07:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-07-27T18:47:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/CHILD-IN-CARE-large640.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"468\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/child-rape-on-the-rise-in-sri-lanka\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/child-rape-on-the-rise-in-sri-lanka\/\",\"name\":\"Child Rape On The Rise In Sri Lanka - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/child-rape-on-the-rise-in-sri-lanka\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/child-rape-on-the-rise-in-sri-lanka\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/CHILD-IN-CARE-large640.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-07-23T19:07:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-07-27T18:47:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/child-rape-on-the-rise-in-sri-lanka\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/child-rape-on-the-rise-in-sri-lanka\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/child-rape-on-the-rise-in-sri-lanka\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/CHILD-IN-CARE-large640.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/CHILD-IN-CARE-large640.jpg\",\"width\":\"640\",\"height\":\"468\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/child-rape-on-the-rise-in-sri-lanka\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Child Rape On The Rise In Sri Lanka\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\",\"name\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Child Rape On The Rise In Sri Lanka - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/child-rape-on-the-rise-in-sri-lanka\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Child Rape On The Rise In Sri Lanka - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/child-rape-on-the-rise-in-sri-lanka\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2012-07-23T19:07:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-07-27T18:47:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":468,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/CHILD-IN-CARE-large640.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/child-rape-on-the-rise-in-sri-lanka\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/child-rape-on-the-rise-in-sri-lanka\/","name":"Child Rape On The Rise In Sri Lanka - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/child-rape-on-the-rise-in-sri-lanka\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/child-rape-on-the-rise-in-sri-lanka\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/CHILD-IN-CARE-large640.jpg","datePublished":"2012-07-23T19:07:16+00:00","dateModified":"2012-07-27T18:47:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/child-rape-on-the-rise-in-sri-lanka\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/child-rape-on-the-rise-in-sri-lanka\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/child-rape-on-the-rise-in-sri-lanka\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/CHILD-IN-CARE-large640.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/CHILD-IN-CARE-large640.jpg","width":"640","height":"468"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/child-rape-on-the-rise-in-sri-lanka\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Child Rape On The Rise In Sri Lanka"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3","name":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/CHILD-IN-CARE-large640.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49246"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49256,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49246\/revisions\/49256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}