From Rights and Shame to Remedies and Change: Gender Violence in Sri Lanka

This book looks at how the law has responded to women who have suffered violence. Police statistics, media reports and the experiences of women activists and counsellors indicate that violence against women is a widespread phenomenon in Sri Lanka….One of the biggest problems is lack of awareness. Victims and potential victims are unaware of their rights and the remedies available. This resource book looks at the Sri Lankan legal system from a feminist perspective. It is intended to create awareness on the remedies the law offers women victims of violence and considers ways of making the law more responsive and effective. The authors have focussed on three broad areas: the constitutional framework, the criminal law, and judicial attitudes to women as reflected in case law. Despite changes at the global level, women’s concerns continue to be marginalised by the Sri Lankan legal system. There is an unwillingness to re-fashion legal concepts and procedures to make them more sensitive to the concerns of women. This book seeks to provoke lawyers and activists into using the legal system in creative ways to make it responsive to the concerns of women.