Gender inequality in Sri Lanka
Specifically, these inequalities affect many aspects of women's lives, starting with sex-selective abortions and male preferences, then education and schooling in childhood, which influence job opportunities, property rights, access to health and political participation in adulthood.
[2] Overall, this pattern of social history that disempowers females produces a cycle of undervaluing females, providing only secondary access to health care and schooling and thus fewer opportunities to take on high level jobs or training, which then exacerbates the issue of low political participation and lowered social rights, a cycle studied and noted on by Dr. Elaine Enarson, a disaster sociologist studying the connection between disaster and the role of women.
[11] Some of the main causes of this gender inequality is due to the patriarchal nature of Sri Lankan culture and the historical effects of the unbalanced weight put on the value of males.
[13] However, according to Matt Withers and Janaka Biyanwila, experts in labor migration and economies, "Sri Lanka's labour market remains heavily segmented and offers limited sustainable economic opportunity for a majority of women".
[14] Specifically, in markets where men are also deprived of labor rights, like that of crop plantations, women are found to be treated even worse by their male counterparts.
Even while women may work at the same time as doing the majority of the housework and childcare, they are still marginalized as it is deemed socially incorrect to venture outside of the domestic sphere.
[citation needed] Furthermore, gender inequality has also been continued by cultural practices, both legal and illegal, including the use of dowries and certain limiting marriage laws.
[19] Natural disasters such as the tsunami in 2004 and historical ethnic conflicts have greatly affected the dowry system as many women lost some or all of their property and material possessions.
[21] Furthermore, according to a study by the Bioscience research group, the slight cultural inclination to choose sons over daughters in Sri Lanka is expressed more within reproductive intentions instead of direct contraceptive action.
The unemployment rate for women in Sri Lanka was 13% in 2012, which was six times higher than that of males, according to the Labour Force Survey taken by the department of census and statistics.
The collective action and inaction of different nations to take a stand on equal labor rights, especially for women, is a more complicated issue than commonly described, as according to Naila Kabeer in Feminist Economics.
[29] In fact, according to Kabeer, for many of the women in this industry, these jobs prove to empower them and allow for additional independence in place of simply limiting their rights.
[29] However, other studies suggest that these low-paying heavy labor jobs simply are taken on by women because of economic necessity and do not contribute to their societal independence within the patriarchal society.
[35] Because Sri Lanka has been deemed to have a low preference for daughters, as compared to other countries in the region, sex-selective abortions have been stated as less of a concern.
A number of Sri Lankan peacekeeping contingent committed various offenses of sexual misconduct during the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti.
108 members, including 3 officers of the 950-member Sri Lanka peacekeeping contingent, was sent back after being implicated in alleged misconduct and sexual abuse.
[43] After inquiry into the case the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) concluded, "acts of sexual exploitation and abuse (against children) were frequent and occurred usually at night, and at virtually every location where the contingent personnel were deployed."
The OIOS is assisting in the pending legal proceedings initiated by the Sri Lankan Government and has said charges should include statutory rape "because it involves children under 18 years of age".
[44] In 2016, the Sri Lankan government decided to make a one-time ex-gratia payment to a victim and child born as a result of sexual exploitation and abuse, which was praised by the UN.
[47] Specifically, studies have shown that while health care is generally available for most of the Sri Lankan population, it is not well-geared towards providing for the reproductive rights of teenagers.
[48] This subsequently has been shown to impact the general confidence teens in Sri Lanka have about discussing sexual and reproductive rights and issues.
[49] Additionally, reproductive rights is one issue that has been explored by widowed women and sex workers following civil and ethnic strife in Sri Lankan history.
