Violence has become a part of everyday culture in Sri Lankan homes, justifying men beating up their wives, justifying women being catcalled in the streets, justifying men raping women, justifying child abuse, and justifying gender inequality. In Sri Lanka, every three out of five women are victims of domestic violence, and only 1% of victims use the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act to obtain redress. In Sri Lanka, a woman is raped every 90 minutes and 97% of rapists face no legal consequences.
In Sri Lanka, three to five children are raped every day. In Sri Lanka, 95% of women are sexually harassed in public transportation. In Sri Lanka, 44% of pregnant women are beaten at home. In Sri Lanka, more than two out of three women believe that they cannot refuse sex with their husbands. In Sri Lanka, these numbers have been steadily on the rise and it’s time we put an end to this. We need to campaign for zero tolerance for such violence. We need to empower our women to be independent and strong. And we must ensure that there is no exception made for anyone or any one community.