• NCPA Chair Udayakumara Amarasinghe expounds on need to find newer, effective, and scientific ways of dealing with both child abuse and offenders including the empowerment of all stakeholders  

Taking into account, the evolving nature and increasing number of child abuse cases, it is important to find newer, more effective, and more scientific ways of dealing with child abuse as well as child abusers. In these efforts, much attention needs to be paid to preventing abuse, and that requires empowering children, parents and guardians, and the relevant authorities.

Emphasising this, National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) Chairperson Chanaka Udayakumara Amarasinghe explained that a number of measures are in progress to achieve the same. During an interview with The Daily Morning, he remarked that in an unprecedented move, the NCPA is planning to form a ‘child offenders registry’ to easily identify those convicted of child abuse and to limit their interactions with children. This, he explained, is based on complaints, grievances, and suggestions regarding convicted child abusers being in positions that involve dealing directly with children.

Below are excerpts from the interview:

Recently, it was reported that plans are in progress to develop a registry of child offenders. Can you explain the nature of this initiative and how it would be used to protect children?

Not just a registry, the NCPA has also planned to implement several measures in relation to child protection. Some have already been referred to the Justice Ministry to be submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers. The reason behind the plans to form such a registry is reports that convicted child abusers – especially child sex abusers – following the completion of their sentence, enter environments where they directly work with children. These could be schools, daycare centres, or even orphanages. Many deem this to be a risky situation for children. The NCPA has received complaints regarding such incidents, some of which involve monks, as well as concerns about the possibility of children being abused in such environments. 

Studies conducted in the international context have shown that there is a possibility of offenders of sex crimes repeating such behaviour even after completing their sentence. Taking into account this risk, the NCPA appointed an expert committee and held several internal discussions which discussed that a system, including the relevant legal provisions, should be in place to limit or regulate the access of convicted offenders of grave child abuse, including sexual abuse, to premises meant mainly for children following the completion of their sentences. In addition, this committee discussed a system to limit the recruitment of such persons to service providing institutions that directly deal with children, and we are planning to request both the private and public sector institutions to consider similar conditions when it comes to recruiting people for jobs.

You mentioned that certain other initiatives are also being pursued to protect children? What are those initiatives?

A recommendation has been issued by the United Nations in 2018 to Sri Lanka to review and amend the laws relating to corporal punishment against children. In addition, in two of its judgements, the Supreme Court had recommended to amend or update these laws. Accordingly, through the efforts of an expert committee in 2022 and last year (2023), the NCPA has been able to draft an amendment to upgrade the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure with regard to corporal punishment against children. We have submitted the necessary proposals to the Justice Ministry to obtain Cabinet approval.

Recently, many parties expressed concerns about schoolchildren using various types of new drugs. Many arrests have also been made in this regard. Has the NCPA directed its attention to this development?

When it comes to the NCPA’s functions relating to accepting complaints, one of the types of complaints accepted by the NCPA is those pertaining to using children to transport drugs. In addition to children being addicted to drugs, schoolchildren are being used by adults, or drug racketeers, to transport drugs. The NCPA accepts such complaints and works with the Police to investigate them. However, when it comes to children using drugs, including pharmaceutical drugs, the NCPA makes interventions and conducts preventive measures in the form of public awareness raising activities. 

Even though the direct responsibility in this regard is assigned to the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board, the NCPA also looks into this issue through schoolchild protection committees which the NCPA has established as per a circular issued in 2011 by the Education Ministry. One duty assigned to these committees is to prevent abuses against children, and the NCPA can accept related complaints and implement preventive measures. In addition to children, parents and teachers are also educated. These committees raise awareness about the drug issue.

Another notable recent development relating to children is the efforts aimed at introducing sex education to schoolchildren. As the main authority concerning children’s wellbeing, what does the NCPA think about this?

The NCPA thinks that children should be provided with sexuality-related education depending on their age. If we look at teenagers, despite their physical growth, in many cases, they possess very little knowledge and experiences about their bodies and growth. With biological changes, children become curious about sexuality. In such an age, it is easier to attract or deceive children into sexual activities as opposed to an adult that accepts or rejects such an invitation based on their knowledge and experiences. But, in the case of children, some are not aware of the risks of unwanted connections of a sexual nature or how to reject such, and also the fact that such acts are a criminal offence. 

In this context, the NCPA is of the opinion that it is very important to provide sexuality-related education as one way of preventing child sexual abuse. If this knowledge is not provided in a proper manner through institutions such as schools, children tend to seek such knowledge through informal and non-scientific means, sometimes from various adults. This poses a risk. At the same time, even if a child feels that such acts are wrong, they tend not to reject the same if it is being done by a known adult such as a relative. It could be because of fear or the connection that that person has with the child. 

Through education, we can also create a personality for children that helps them refuse such acts. In addition, education can help children discern the difference between good touch and bad touch, because children can refuse or complain about acts of abuse only if they understand that it is wrong. In that sense, sexuality-related education is extremely important. This initiative was launched following months of consultations conducted by a number of stakeholders, including the Health Ministry as the leading institution and the NCPA, the Education Ministry, the National Institute of Education, the Police, and the Women and Child Affairs Ministry, as well as other experts such as university lecturers and medical professionals. We think that this initiative should be developed and introduced as a compulsory subject in the school curriculum as other subjects.

One common opinion is that many of Sri Lanka’s laws are outdated, or that they are inadequate to deal with modern day issues. What do you think about the laws that Sri Lanka has in place concerning children? In what ways could they be updated or improved?

Many hold the opinion that Sri Lanka’s laws are outdated. But, I cannot agree with it 100%. It is true that laws should be amended to match the changes taking place in society. We have identified such gaps. However, in most cases, even if there are adequate laws, there may be delays in enforcing the law. For example, in a child abuse case, the Police has to record statements, conduct an investigation, present the matter to the court, and file cases, which takes time. There is a delay when it comes to cases, and in some instances, case proceedings take around 10-12 years to conclude. In this context, children deviate from the justice process. Therefore, I proposed to further develop procedural laws to expedite such cases. In addition, technology has evolved considerably, and we are living in an information society. When dealing with such a society, we use social media platforms and the Internet. While these technologies help social development, they also pose a threat to children’s safety. For instance, with the Covid-19 pandemic, children started embracing online education, which in turn opened doors for many to use social media platforms, the Internet, and communication apps such as WhatsApp. These gave children access to pornographic content, and these platforms also exposed child abuse. Even through the digital and print media could be regulated to a certain extent, regulating social media platforms is quite difficult, which led to blackmail, sexual abuse, threats, and other forms of abuse. In this context, I further think that laws should be upgraded to prevent such incidents. 

Moreover, in 2022, there was a discussion among the President, in his capacity as the Minister in charge of Child Affairs, and the NCPA, the Police, the Labour Department, the Justice Ministry, and the Women and Child Affairs Ministry with regard to identifying the gaps in laws relating to children. In addition, instructions were issued to draft a combined law on child rights. The drafting of the said law commenced in 2023. Accordingly, on 12 February of this year (2024), a proposal was submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers by the President in this regard, which received approval on 19 February. Through this, we expect to introduce laws to address the identified gaps.