Sri Lanka’s Silent Crisis of Gender-Based Violence

Late one evening in a crowded Colombo police station, a young woman sits beside her parents, flanked by two constables They look intimidated, exhausted, and unsure of what comes next. 
“What was she wearing?” 
“Why was she out so late?”
“Was she seeing anyone else?”
Her parents plead for help while she sits quietly, pale and gaunt, still in shock from what she has just endured.
This is a reality faced by thousands of Sri Lankan women. Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) remains widespread, sustained by archaic gender norms and stereotypes leading to rigid moral codes and an overtly conservative social culture.
SGBV is one of Sri Lanka’s most pervasive human rights concerns. Studies suggest that in Sri Lanka, one in five women experiences physical or sexual violence during her lifetime, most often by someone she knows. Yet official statistics capture only a fraction of the problem.
In a grim sense, one could say that SGBV in Sri Lanka is ‘progressive and utterly indiscriminate’ — age, race, ethnicity, and social status offer no protection. It is an ordeal that nearly every woman encounters in some form during her lifetime. In our society, SGBV is a reality so common, so embedded, that its horror is often masked by its familiarity.
Sri Lanka has progressive laws on paper -including the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act and strengthened penal code provisions, which have led to the introduction of— several important mechanisms, including Protection Orders for Women, Women and Children’s Desks at police stations, 24/7 hotlines, and established Crisis Centres in hospitals. Civil society organisations continue to provide counselling, shelter, and legal aid to survivors. But many of these services remain under-resourced or unevenly available across the country. Frontline officers often lack consistent training on how to handle SGBV cases sensitively or are overwhelmed by the sheer number cases that are sent across their tables each day. Legal processes remain slow, and shelters, particularly for adult women, are in short supply. The main issue, however, remains that this is a system built on suspicion and mistrust of the survivors who seek help are forced to navigate a system that feels adversarial rather than protective. 
However, the issue cannot be blamed and laid at the feet of public institutions and the ‘system’ alone. Our collective response as a society has been steadfast in all the wrong ways — unwavering in disbelief, relentless in interrogation, and consistent in the stigmatization and revictimization of survivors. We have dismantled and dismissed their experiences, looked away from their pain, and conveniently freed ourselves from the responsibility of understanding the isolation, alienation, and disenfranchisement they endure. The public’s lack of faith in a system that is meant to support, empower, and deliver justice to survivors of SGBV is not without reason. It is one of the greatest obstacles we must confront in our uphill struggle towards ensuring gender equality and the genuine empowerment of women.
We cannot move past the deeply entrenched gender norms that shape attitudes towards gender-based violence overnight. We need to start having the conversations about consent, accountability, bystander intervention, bodily autonomy, allyship and gender equality with rigorous fervour – extending the opportunity to participate in these conversations not only in urban settings but also to our most vulnerable, low-income and rural communities.  
Ending SGBV requires more than laws -it demands a fundamental shift in social attitudes and institutional practices. This includes comprehensive sexuality education, community-level awareness campaigns, stronger police accountability, trauma-informed healthcare, and faster 
judicial processes.
But most importantly, it requires a collective willingness to believe survivors, protect them, and support their pursuit of justice.
The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence is a global campaign observed annually from 25 November to 10 December and aims to raise awareness and inspire collective action to end all forms of violence against women and girls. This year, in line with this, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), together with its key partners through ongoing flagship project initiatives, presents ‘Through Her Eyes, wef.a oEiska" அவளின் பார்வையில்’ an immersive walk-through experience tracing a survivor’s journey.