Sri Lanka – New Anti-Rape Laws Proposed – Divisive – Marriage Solution vs. Victim Protection
Author: Womens UN Report Network
Date: April 14, 2014
WUNRN
Sunday Leader – Sri Lanka
SRI LANKA – NEW ANTI-RAPE LAWS
PROPOSED – DIVISIVE – MARRIAGE SOLUTION VS. PREVENTION & VICTIM PROTECTION
April 22, 2014 – Minister of Child Development and Women’s Affairs Tissa
Karalliyadda has proposed new laws to crackdown on the number of rape cases.
As part of the proposal, the Minister has suggested that rapists be bound by
law to marry a victim if she gives her consent to court.
Legally, a girl can marry only after passing the age of 18. Under the
proposed law, a rapist will be forced to wait until an underage victim reaches
the legal age limit to marry and will then need to marry her.
Karalliyadda said that the proposal is to be submitted to the Ministry of
Justice to draft the new laws and obtain Cabinet and then Parliament approval.
“The idea is to ensure the victim gets justice. If she feels the rapist must
marry her for what he did to her, then she must have that option,” the Minister
said.
The Minister said that he will also propose that politicians accused of rape
be temporarily stripped of their party membership pending an inquiry.
He noted that some politicians continue in active politics despite being
charged for rape. The Minister said that he will discuss the issue with
President Mahinda Rajapaksa as well.
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SOUTH ASIA IS HOME TO HIGHEST NUMBER
OF CHILD BRIDES
South
Asian countries have turned their back on United Nations Child-bride
resolution. The proposal calls to end the practice as a part of the post 2015
global development goals.
Authorities continue to turn a blind eye to
early marriages
11/29/2013 – Forced early marriages are
rampant in South Asia,
primarily because of cultural ideas about the appropriate age of marriage.
The United Nations Human Rights Council
(UNHCR) estimates that over 140 million girls will be married before their 18th
birthday over the next decade and almost 50 percent of these child brides are
in South Asia.
Child marriage is prohibited by national
and regional laws in South Asian countries such as India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. But the practice persists unabatedly. According to a
report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), 24.4 million women
between ages 20-24 were reportedly married before the age of 18 between the
years 2000 and 2010.
“This practice is common across South
Asia, and a girl is considered to be of marriageable age as soon as she attains
puberty,” Priya Nanda, director of Reproductive Health and Economic
Development at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), told DW.
Nanda explains that this form of marriage
is linked with the chastity and sexuality of the girl that needs protection as
she represents the family’s honor. The fear of sexual assault and premarital
sex drive families to arrange marriages of their children early on.
Child marriage is very common in the
northwestern Indian state of Rajasthan
The UNHCR initiated a proposal calling upon
the world to co-sponsor the resolution to strengthen efforts to prevent and
eliminated child, early and forced marriage. A total of 107 countries including
Ethiopia, South Sudan and Yemen with high rates of child marriage adopted the
resolution. India, Nepal, Sri
Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan chose not to co-sponsor the resolution, despite having
high rates of child marriage.
“Customs take precedence over
laws.” Kriti Bharati, an Indian activist, explains that the village elders
in India do not observe the constitutional law, and local
authorities simply turn a blind eye. Bharati receives death threats on a daily
basis from victims’ family members, locals and even politicians as her NGO
Saarthi Trust helps rescue child brides. She has also helped 150 victims have
their marriages annulled legally.
“Peculiar rituals in Rajasthan persist
and that makes it difficult to change the mindset of the people. The Mausar
ritual is one such tradition of forced marriage. Upon the death of a family
member, a marriage must be solemnized in the family within 13 days in order to
convert the occasion of sorrow into one of joy, even if the family members are
not of marriageable age ,” Bharati told DW.
An economic decision
Marriages in South
Asia are expensive social
events with large gatherings. The entire extended community is invited to
participate in the family’s announcement. The event becomes a financial burden
for familes. Many even take loans to organize wedding ceremonies.
Young brides are often victims of domestic
violence
Studies show that child marriage is
primarily prevalent in rural areas in countries with dowry norms” As the
girl gets older, the price of her dowry goes. So poor families are torn between
paying the cost of delaying the marriage vs. he cost of a higher dowry, ”
Nanda told DW.
She adds that the value of the girl is
equated to the labor she can provide. Because most of her productivity and
labor will be provided in the husband’s home, families see no point in
investing in a girl who brings them no productive value.
Some of these marriages are simply business
transactions.”The poppy brides in Afghanistan are victims of loans taken by farmers from warlords.
When the farmer cannot pay back his loan, he settles the debt by giving away
his daughter in marriage,” Heather Barr of Human Rights Watch told DW.
Studies show that the lack of education for
girls traps them not just in a cycle of poverty, making them economically
dependent, but also puts their health at a serious risk. These people are
unaware that girls who get pregnant before their bodies are fully developed are
in a fatal situation. Young brides also risk domestic abuse and marital rape.
The UNFPA report shows that South Asia also records the highest rates of adolescent pregnancy
and maternal death in the world.
Challenges ahead
Barr insists that the only way to tackle
the problem is by creating awareness of the laws pertaining to child marriage.
“The governments need to do a lot of work. In Afghanistan, for example, the Mullahs performing the marriages don’t
know that there is a law in Afghanistan that sets the minimum age of marriage for boys as 18 and
for girls as 16.”
While laws exist in all South Asian
countries, experts agree that the implementation of these laws is not
widespread enough.
“The problem is deep-rooted and starts
with the value of the girl which is very low when compared to boys. It is this
basic mindset that needs to be changed,” Nanda told DW.
She believes that on one hand people need
to be convinced to change their mindset, and on the other the Indian government
needs to come up with viable alternatives for girls so they are no longer seen
as a burden.
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