Is justice so far away from cries of victims of grave sexual abuse?

• The issue of child protection has reached a critical stage, but women and girls continue to be portrayed as tools to gain political mileage
• The latest incident involves a 15-year-old girl who fell victim to the perpetrators while she was on a bus heading towards towards Kumbukgete

On October 13, the Kumbukgete Police Station had received a complaint with regards to an incident of grave sexual abuse. The victim is a 15-year old girl. She had become the victim in this unfortunate incident; somewhere along the Nikagolla Road while traveling in a bus heading towards Kumbukgate. The three perpetrators, accused of the incident, have been remanded till October 23. The bus driver and conductor were arrested for aiding and abetting the crime. The main suspect is a 23-year old individual. The victim, who was admitted to the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital at the onset of the incident, has reportedly been discharged. This is just one among few other incidents that were reported within the week. The issue of child protection has reached a critical stage, but women and girls continue to be portrayed as tools to gain political mileage. 

Police media spokesman refutes allegations 

Refuting claims on social media with regards to revealing the identity of the victim, Police Media Spokesman SSP Nihal Thalduwa said that personal details of the victim were not revealed in any occasion. “The incident had occurred on October 11 and the mother had lodged the complaint on the 13th. There had been a lot of misinformation shared with regards to this incident. Some media reports mentioned this incident as a rape,” said SSP Thalduwa. He said that the suspects were immediately arrested following the complaint. 

“Our politicians lack early childhood education” – Gonawala

“Moulding a child should begin from pre-school,” said Urban Citizens Chairperson Sharmila Gonawala. “The school curricular should incorporate social values. Children should be encouraged to participate in theatre, music and dance which promote awareness on social values and how to ensure safety in public places etc. But we don’t see that happening. Boys need to be taught about the importance of respecting a girl,” said Gonawala.  

Speaking about the incident regarding the grave sexual abuse of a 15 year old girl, Gonawala said that there needs to be a coordinated effort to ensure that victims are protected at all times. “There is a community police arm in each police station, a community development committee in each Grama Niladhari Division and so on. But there is a lack of coordination in these law enforcement units. Women police officers are deployed for other assignments. There is no victim-friendly environment in a police station to lodge a complaint. In most instances victims are abused inside the police as well as in courts. Even the media doesn’t comply with provisions in the Victim and Witness Protection Act. The perpetrators have access to good lawyers, further crippling a victim’s ability to seek justice. So how can we ensure justice to victims,” Gonawala questioned.
“Our politicians lack early childhood education. Early childhood education is not about distributing colour pencils and books to school children. There’s a holistic approach to educate children both theoretically and practically,” Gonawala explained.

A can full of worms

Impunity, lack of effectiveness of the law, bribery, lack of audit systems and transparency have been identified as some of the key issues of governance that fuel mounting incidents of violence and abuse. “Apart from drafting policies and laws it is also important to make the authorities responsible in implementing these laws,” said Senior Consultant Paediatrician and founding Chairman of the National Child Protection Authority Prof. Harendra De Silva. “The law basically needs teeth in order to serve justice to victims. There should be authorities to implement laws (at least to a certain degree) against cases of violence, rape and abuse. The lack of an audit system in most authorities would make it difficult to see what these authorities have done with allocated funds. We need to see the actions that have been taken rather than looking at the physical resources that have been obtained such as laptops etc,” said Prof. De Silva.

He further said that it’s important that those appointed to higher positions are made accountable for any matters concerning their subject matter. “People are not appointed to higher positions based on meritocracy. Cronyism and nepotism rules when it comes to these appointments because these appointees are either cronies in school etc, or they are related to those in the political hierarchy. Hence there is lack of professionalism,” said Prof. De Silva.

He also stressed on the lack of trained psychologists to provide counseling services for victims of violence, rape, abuse or grave sexual abuse. “Even if the abuse is physical, the victim will experience emotional trauma. But those who claim to be psychologists appear to have followed a primary course and obtained a certificate. The dearth of trained clinical psychologists makes things difficult for victims,” he said. 

“Delayed prosecutions also encourage perpetrators to carry on with their crimes. Hence it is in fact a can of worms. The fundamentals of good governance have not been addressed and there is a system in a place for those in power to get away with any crime,” he said in conclusion.