{"id":63462,"date":"2012-12-07T09:55:30","date_gmt":"2012-12-07T09:55:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=63462"},"modified":"2015-05-03T00:36:34","modified_gmt":"2015-05-02T19:06:34","slug":"legalising-sex-work-debate-ensure-sharmilas-safety-civil-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/legalising-sex-work-debate-ensure-sharmilas-safety-civil-society\/","title":{"rendered":"Legalising Sex-Work Debate: Ensure Sharmila&#8217;s Safety &#8211; Civil Society"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><strong>&#8220;We especially decry efforts of some individuals and organisations to invoke religion and culture to condemn Sharmila, thus potentially inciting extra-legal action against her. Such opportunistic and instrumental use of religion and culture is a threat to meaningful and informed public discourse, and promotes\u00a0chauvinism and intolerance for which \u00a0our country has already paid dearly.\u00a0We call on state\u00a0authorities at the provincial and national level to ensure Sharmila\u2019s safety and well-being, for which they bear primary responsibility. We also call on all community leaders, in particular from within the Muslim community, to take measures to ensure that Sharmila and her family are not the subject of any further threats or intimidation.&#8221; say Civil\u00a0Society activists.<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div id=\"attachment_143559\" style=\"width: 210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Sharmila-Seyyid.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-143559\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-143559\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Sharmila-Seyyid-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"Sharmila Seyyid\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Sharmila-Seyyid-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Sharmila-Seyyid.jpg 318w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-143559\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sharmila Seyyid<\/p><\/div>\n<p>They\u00a0issued a statement condemning the attack on Sharmila Seyyid on her opinion on Legalising sex-work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>We publish below\u00a0the full text of\u00a0\u00a0the statement;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>On the 20<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0November 2012, a section of the media reported that Mr.\u00a0Ajith Prasanna, a member of the Southern Provincial Council from the ruling alliance (UPFA), called for the legalization of sex-work (prostitution) to boost tourism in the country. While sex work as such is not criminalised in Sri Lanka, soliciting sex in public and maintaining of brothels are illegal. If Mr. Prasanna was referring to legalising these issues, we want to make the point that legalization of all kinds of sex-work (while being a topic of debate) is a policy advocated not only by many organisations of sex workers and women\u2019s rights activists around the world, it is also the official policy of many countries. Yet measures such as legalization or decriminalization of sex-work have to be motivated by the aim of protecting the rights and security of women in sex work and enabling them to safeguard their own interests. Legalization driven by concerns such as boosting tourism or generating foreign exchange earnings are not just misguided but also fraught with the risk of jeopardizing the rights of those engaged in sex-work. We therefore strongly disagree with the instrumental approach to legalization of sex-work advocated by Mr. Ajith Prasanna because this only risks further objectifying and commoditizing women\u2019s bodies.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Subsequently, on 20<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0November 2012, a women\u2019s rights activist from Eravur in Batticaloa, Sharmila Seyyid, during the course of an interview with the BBC (Tamil service) expressed\u00a0the view that if\u00a0sex work is legalised in Sri Lanka, it may protect sex-workers.\u00a0Her\u00a0comments have resulted in a backlash from some sections within the Muslim community, including threats and intimidation, which has forced her to go into hiding with her child. Her family in Eravur has also been threatened and intimidated, including through an attempt to burn down a montessori school run by Sharmila&#8217;s younger sister on 22nd November 2012. We strongly condemn the threats against and intimidation of Sharmila and her family, which undermine the right to express one\u2019s opinions freely concerning issues of public policy (a right which is recognised by the Constitution of Sri Lanka). While informed debate and disagreement are inevitable and to be welcomed on such a complex issue, intimidating or threatening people into silence because their opinions are contrary to the dominant point of view\u00a0is unacceptable in a democracy. We especially decry efforts of some individuals and organisations to invoke religion and culture to condemn Sharmila, thus potentially inciting extra-legal action against her. Such opportunistic and instrumental use of religion and culture is a threat to meaningful and informed public discourse, and promotes\u00a0chauvinism and intolerance for which \u00a0our country has already paid dearly.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>We call on state\u00a0authorities at the provincial and national level to ensure Sharmila\u2019s safety and well-being, for which they bear primary responsibility. We also call on all community leaders, in particular from within the Muslim community, to take measures to ensure that Sharmila and her family are not the subject of any further threats or intimidation.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>We also call on responsible authorities such as Provincial Councillors to refrain from calling for law reform based on commodification of women\u2019s bodies.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Signed by:<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><strong>Organisations:<\/strong><\/div>\n<div>1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Affected Women&#8217;s Forum\u00a0&#8211; Akkaraipattu<\/div>\n<div>2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD)<\/div>\n<div>3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), Colombo<\/div>\n<div>4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Centre for Women\u2019s Research (CENWOR), Colombo<\/div>\n<div>5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Equal Ground<\/div>\n<div>6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Mannar Women\u2019s Development Federation (MWDF)<\/div>\n<div>7.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Mullaitheevu Women\u2019s Development and Rehabilitation Federation<\/div>\n<div>8.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Muslim Women\u2019s Development Trust<\/div>\n<div>9.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Voluntary Service and Development Organization for Women<\/div>\n<div>10.\u00a0\u00a0Women\u2019s Action Network<\/div>\n<div>11.\u00a0\u00a0Women\u2019s Coalition for Disaster Management Batticaloa<\/div>\n<div>12.\u00a0\u00a0Women&#8217;s Education and Research Centre (WERC)<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><strong>Names<\/strong>:<\/div>\n<div>13.\u00a0\u00a0A. Renu<\/div>\n<div>14.\u00a0\u00a0A. U. Gunasekera.<\/div>\n<div>15.\u00a0\u00a0Bhavani Fonseka<\/div>\n<div>16.\u00a0\u00a0Cayathri Divakalala<\/div>\n<div>17.\u00a0\u00a0Chulani Kodikara, International Centre for Ethnic Studies<\/div>\n<div>18.\u00a0\u00a0Deanne Uyangoda<\/div>\n<div>19.\u00a0\u00a0Farah Haniffa<\/div>\n<div>20.\u00a0\u00a0Francis Solomantine<\/div>\n<div>21.\u00a0\u00a0Herman Kumara<\/div>\n<div>22. J. Karunenthira, Third Eye Friends Circle<\/div>\n<div>23.\u00a0\u00a0Janakie Seneviratne<\/div>\n<div>24.\u00a0\u00a0Jensila Majeed<\/div>\n<div>25.\u00a0\u00a0Jeyachitra Velayudan<\/div>\n<div>26.\u00a0\u00a0Jovita Arulanantham<\/div>\n<div>27.\u00a0\u00a0Juwairiya Mohideen<\/div>\n<div>28.\u00a0\u00a0K.S. Ratnavail<\/div>\n<div>29.\u00a0\u00a0Kuhanithi Kunachandran<\/div>\n<div>30.\u00a0\u00a0Kumudini Samuel<\/div>\n<div>31.\u00a0\u00a0Lakshan Dias (Attorney at law)<\/div>\n<div>32.\u00a0\u00a0Lakshman F. B. Gunasekara<\/div>\n<div>33.\u00a0\u00a0M. Ganesan<\/div>\n<div>34.\u00a0\u00a0Mahalaxumi Kurushanthan<\/div>\n<div>35.\u00a0\u00a0Maithree Wickramasinghe, Independent Researcher<\/div>\n<div>36.\u00a0\u00a0Mala Liyanage<\/div>\n<div>37.\u00a0\u00a0Mangala Shanker<\/div>\n<div>38.\u00a0\u00a0Marisa de Silva<\/div>\n<div>39.\u00a0\u00a0Melisha Yapa<\/div>\n<div>40.\u00a0\u00a0Mirak Raheem<\/div>\n<div>41.\u00a0\u00a0Muttukrishna Sarvananthan<\/div>\n<div>42.\u00a0\u00a0Navarangini Nadarajah<\/div>\n<div>43.\u00a0\u00a0Nimalka Fernando<\/div>\n<div>44.\u00a0\u00a0P.\u00a0 P. Sivapragasam<\/div>\n<div>45.\u00a0\u00a0P. N. Singham<\/div>\n<div>46.\u00a0\u00a0Prema Gamage<\/div>\n<div>47.\u00a0\u00a0Prema Gamage<\/div>\n<div>48.\u00a0\u00a0Priya Thangarajah, Legal Researcher<\/div>\n<div>49.\u00a0\u00a0Rajani Chandrasekaran (GBV desk Jaffna)<\/div>\n<div>50.\u00a0\u00a0Rameeza Khan<\/div>\n<div>51.\u00a0\u00a0Rasika Mendis<\/div>\n<div>52.\u00a0\u00a0Ruki Fernando<\/div>\n<div>53.\u00a0\u00a0S. Ithayarani<\/div>\n<div>54.\u00a0\u00a0Sachini Perera<\/div>\n<div>55.\u00a0\u00a0Sarala Emmanuel<\/div>\n<div>56.\u00a0\u00a0Selvy Thiruchandran<\/div>\n<div>57.\u00a0\u00a0Sharmila Haniffa<\/div>\n<div>58.\u00a0\u00a0Sherine Xavier, Home for Human Rights<\/div>\n<div>59.\u00a0\u00a0Shreen Abdul Saroor<\/div>\n<div>60.\u00a0\u00a0Shyamala Gomez<\/div>\n<div>61.\u00a0\u00a0Shyamala Sivagurunathan<\/div>\n<div>62.\u00a0\u00a0Sitralega Maunaguru<\/div>\n<div>63.\u00a0\u00a0Sornalinham<\/div>\n<div>64.\u00a0\u00a0Sumathy Sivamohan<\/div>\n<div>65.\u00a0\u00a0Thushari Madahapola<\/div>\n<div>66.\u00a0\u00a0Vasuki Jeyasankar, Women&#8217;s Rights Activist, Batticaloa.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":63464,"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":[],"class_list":["post-63462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-most-popular","category-news","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - 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