Minister for Womens Affairs wants to marry

rape victimes to rapists

Jpehs.co.uk- Tuesday, May 06, 2014
Joint Statement: Calling for the
Resignation of Minister of Child Development and Womens ffairs !issa "arali#adde
$t is %ith dis&elief and outrage that %e read the Sunda# 'eader article of ()th pril titled *+e%
nti Rape 'a%s ,roposed- %here the Minister of Child Development and Womens ffairs
!issa "arali#adde has said that proposals on ne% la%s to respond to the large and gro%ing
num&er of rape cases %ill ensure that rapists are &ound &# la% to marr# the victim if she gives
her consent to court. !his ne%s report indicated that this proposal %ill &e for%arded to the
Ministr# of Justice for necessar# action.
+either Minister "arali#adde nor the Ministr# of Justice or their officials have refuted this
report.
$t is trul# appalling that the government %hich has pu&licl# stated its commitment to end acts
of violence against %omen and its Minister in charge of %omen and childrens concerns thinks
a solution to rape is that a %oman or child victim.survivor marries the perpetrator of %hat our
la% descri&es as a grave criminal offence. !his is tantamount to legitimi/ing acts of rape and
giving societ# the message that %omen must pa# the price for rape- even &# marr#ing the
perpetrator of this serious crime. !his proposed la% %ill grant impunit# to perpetrators- %ho
instead of &eing punished no% have the option of *marr#ing the %omen or girl the# a&use.
!his in effect encourages rapists to continue %ith their se0ual violence against %omen and
girls. !here is plent# of documented evidence that %hen %omen do marr# rapists it is &ecause
the marriage is a forced marriage contracted due to famil# pressure. !he %oman or girl has to
endure an a&usive relationship %hich often ends in domestic violence and suicide. !his is %h#
the Committee on the Womens Convention 1Committee on the 2limination of ll 3orms of
Discrimination against Women4 has consistentl# asked countries to repeal la%s that permit such
marriages. Morocco a&olished a similar la% in Januar# 56(7 after a pu&lic outcr# over the
suicide of a girl %ho %as forced to marr# her rapist
Minister "arali#adde is on record to have stated in ,arliament that there %ere 5-(86 rape cases
reported in 56(5 and 7-)(9 rapes reported in the period 566:-56((. !he Minister admitted he
had no information a&out the age of the victims or ho% man# cases had actuall# resulted in
convictions. $f the Minister did look for this information he %ould have reali/ed that the vast
ma;orit# of rape cases &efore the courts rarel# result in convictions due to %eaknesses in la%
enforcement. <e should as a responsi&le Minister revie% the implementation of current la%s
and ensue ena&ling conditions for their strict enforcement = eliminating dela#s in the la%- the
current practice of suspended sentencing and adversarial- gender insensitive legal and la%
enforcement processes that prevent %omen from o&taining ;ustice.
!he Ministers lack of kno%ledge a&out the causes and conse>uences of the violent crime of
rape and Sri 'ankan commitment under national and international la% to prevent and prosecute
it is e>uall# astounding. Does he not kno% that %omen of all ages- including girls: infants and
toddlers and elderl# %omen are victims of rape in Sri 'anka? Recent media reports have
highlighted rape of tourists- a su&;ect included in travel advisories to tourists. <o% does he
propose to implement his la% on mandator# marriage to a rapist? $s a government constantl#
referring to famil# values- admitting that *marriage is a convenient institution that can legall#
hide crimes of rape- and legali/e se0ual violence %ithin marriage? What does he propose to do
%ith rapists %ho are themselves married or %ho rape multiple times? $s he proposing a ne%
la% that %ill permit pol#gam#?
We %ish to remind the Minister that his personal vie%s on %omens and girls right to e>ualit#
and protection from violence are irrelevant for pu&lic polic#. rticle (5 of our Constitution
incorporates a standard of gender e>ualit# and non-discrimination on the ground of a persons
se0. Sri 'anka- recogni/ing its contri&ution in improving the lives of %omen &# giving e>ual
access to health and education- and desiring further progress- &ecame a State ,art# to the
Convention on the 2limination of ll 3orms of Discrimination against Women 1C2DW4 in
(:@(. $n (::) it adopted a polic# statement kno%n as the Womens Charter and %hich
reinforces the Convention standards on gender e>ualit# &et%een men and %omen. $n (::8 the
Sri 'ankan ,arliament amended the ,enal Code to ensure enhanced sentencing for the crime of
rape. !he Sri 'ankan government has &inding o&ligations to implement our Constitution-
+ational <uman Rights ction ,lan 1+<R,4 and the Womens Rights Convention- C2DW.
!he ,resident is no% chair of C<ABM and is committed to the core Common%ealth values
that have &een incorporated in the Declaration of C<ABM. !he ,resident has a responsi&ilit#
to ensure that these values on gender e>ualit# are upheld &# his administration.
We have in the past had several %omen ca&inet ministers such as Renuka <erath- the late
Srimani thulathmudali- mara ,i#aseeli Rathna#ake- and Sumeda Ja#asena %ho took their
role and responsi&ilit# as holders of ca&inet office seriousl#. !he# tried to %ork to%ards
achieving the standards of gender e>ualit# and improve the lives of %omen and men. Man# Sri
'ankan men- including professionals and politicians have supported initiatives to achieve
gender e>ualit# in our societ#. $t is a shocking indication of the &reakdo%n in values of holders
of pu&lic office- that the first male minister of Womens ffairs can make pu&lic statements
%hich undervalue Sri 'ankan %omen.
Minister "arali#adde has in the recent past made statements that a&use and seek to humiliate
identified groups of %omen- including %omen in responsi&le positions of leadership %ithin his
o%n ,art#. Some of these statements have &een repeated &# other holders of high pu&lic office.
!hese statements make it a&undantl# clear that the Minister and other holders of pu&lic office
are ignorant of their responsi&ilities- to respect these values on gender e>ualit# in their pu&lic
life. An the 5@th +ovem&er 56()- (C@ individuals and representatives of a range of civil societ#
organi/ations made a call for the immediate resignation of Minister "arali#adde from the office
he holds in the Ministr# of Womens ffairs and Child Development for se0ist and a&usive
statements he made in pu&lic including in ,arliament.
We reiterate this demand and call for Minister "arali#addes immediate resignation or removal
from the Ca&inet office he holds. We demand that a gender sensitive Minister is appointed
immediatel# to the post of Womens ffairs. Mr. "arali#addes gender insensitive statements
and irresponsi&le &ehavior indicate that he can no longer &e permitted to function as head of a
Ministr# %hose core purpose he undervalues and pu&licl# denounces.
We also call upon all local- foreign and D+ agencies that support pro;ects of the Ministr# of
Child Development and Womens ffairs to revie% their partnership %ith this Ministr#- and
demand accounta&ilit# in regard to promoting gender e>ualit# standards that &ind our
government. We call upon all citi/ens to recogni/e the gro%ing denial of %omens safet# and
securit# in the famil# and the communit# and the lack of effective leadership from government
in addressing violence against %omen and girls. We must make this an issue on %hich %e hold
accounta&le all those %ho %e vote into pu&lic office.
Women E Media CollectiveF GiluthuF Muslim Womens Research E ction 3orumF <ome for
<uman Rights
58 pril 56(7