• Implementation of this long overdue policy and its focus on societal and attitudinal change will determine its success

BY Sumudu Chamara Gender equality and equity, or the lack thereof, has been one of those discourses that have a multitude of aspects that keep changing the discourse from time to time. In addition to most prominent concepts such as patriarchy, other factors relating to the economy, politics, psychology, and art, among others, have had a significant impact on how gender inequality is discussed, and due to its multifaceted nature, finding permanent, or long-term, solutions, has been difficult. With regard to gender inequality, South Asia, among other regions, has been highlighted due to the prevailing patriarchal and hetero-normative social structure, and activists have claimed that changing the societal aspects of this matter, which have a great deal to do with people’s attitudes and traditions, and making legal and policy-level changes are also necessary to address gender inequality. This is largely due to gender-based discriminations and violence.   National gender policy, action plan Even though Sri Lanka too has been discussing this matter for decades, if not centuries, the progress the country has achieved, according to activists and when analysing the legal, policy, and practical changes this discourse has led to, is inadequate and the country therefore has a long way to go. Sri Lankan lawmakers last week arrived at a crucial decision to address the policy-level concerns of prevailing gender inequality. The Parliament Select Committee (PSC) appointed to provide recommendations to ensure gender equity and equality in Sri Lanka has paid attention to drafting a national policy in order to ensure gender equality and towards formulating an action plan to implement that policy. The recommendations of the PSC, which are focused mainly on addressing gender-based discriminations and violations of women’s rights, were discussed at a discussion held at the Parliamentary Complex with several parties including the Women and Child Development, Pre-School and Primary Education, School Infrastructure, and Education Services State Ministry. As per a request made at the discussion, in order to achieve this, a committee would also be appointed. It was stated during the discussion that even though the formulation of a national policy on the aforesaid matters was initiated many years ago, it was not submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers for approval owing to certain shortcomings contained in it.  PSC Chairperson and Primary Health Care, Epidemics, and Covid-19 Disease Control State Minister Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle, during the meeting, pointed out that the participation of women in the fields of employment and politics in Sri Lanka is at a minimum, and that therefore, there is a need to formulate and implement this policy at the draft level. To execute this idea, according to the State Minister, the views of all parties should be obtained, and all parties should be informed of this in writing for the purpose of expediting the formulation of the national policy and to allow all parties to study it properly. Meanwhile, National People’s Power (NPP) Parliamentarian Dr. Harini Amarasuriya emphasised that the proposed national policy and action plan should be formulated with a focus on new concepts, outside of the traditional framework. The PSC also discussed the challenges faced by women employed in the agriculture sector. The parties who engaged in this discussion, including female union leaders in the agriculture sector, highlighted and called for more attention to five areas that women in the agriculture sector face issues in. Among them were issues pertaining to natural resources and land ownership, market access, access to financial services, new technology, and family-related care responsibilities. Therefore, the participating resource persons pointed out that the relevant parties should pay attention to this matter. They pointed out that women can actively contribute to the process of shaping and transforming the food system in Sri Lanka, if some solution to the said issues were provided. Dr. Fernandopulle stated that the issues specific to women in the agriculture sector, which were identified during the discussion, would be informed to the Finance Ministry to be addressed through the 2022 Budget. This is not the first time the country’s lawmakers looked into gaining more opportunities and better treatment for women. Seeking adequate women’s representation in Parliament, in July this year, the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (WPC) presented several proposals to the PSC on Electoral Reforms, seeking more women representatives in the Parliament. Under this, several recommendations such as increasing the quota for National List female MPs and giving more opportunities for women at lower administrative institutions, such as provincial councils and local government institutions, were also put forward.   Laws and the Constitution The Constitution of Sri Lanka guarantees equal treatment and protection before the law irrespective of a person’s sex.  The Constitution, under Article 12, which deals with the “right to equality” in the Fundamental Rights Chapter, says that “no citizen shall be discriminated against on the grounds of race, religion, language, caste, sex, political opinion, place of birth, or any one of such grounds” and that “no person shall, on the grounds of race, religion, language, caste, sex, or any one of such grounds, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction, or condition with regard to access to shops, public restaurants, hotels, places of public entertainment, and places of public worship of his/her own religion.” In addition, under Article 27 which deals with the non-justiciable Directive Principles of State Policy and Fundamental Duties Chapter of the Constitution, it states that “the State shall ensure equality of opportunity to citizens, so that no citizen shall suffer any disability on the grounds of race, religion, language, caste, sex, political opinion, or occupation.” Speaking of the plans to formulate a national gender policy and the existing laws, activist, and Attorney-at-Law Ermiza Tegal told The Morning that Sri Lanka’s national policy and machinery relating to gender has been women-focused to date, and that adopting a language of gender equality is an important step in the right direction. “It must be said that the national mechanisms on women – which consisted of a Ministry, the Women’s Bureau, and the National Committee for Women – have themselves taken a step back under this Government owing to the failure to assign a cabinet portfolio for women or gender, and instead create a State Ministry which additionally is responsible for school infrastructure. There has been a National Action Plan for Women, a Women’s Charter, attempts to create a National Commission for Women, and attempts at a draft Bill on women’s rights. It is important to remember that Sri Lanka has failed to secure concrete legal and administrative measures on women rights, and that any national policy on gender equality must be cognisant of that and address from the outset this failure to turn words into action.” With regard to the areas that need to be covered through the proposed national gender policy, she further noted that a gender equality national policy must address gender-based violence, political participation and decision-making, health, education and training, economic activities, labour, land and poverty, transitional justice and reconciliation, media and communication, environment, and institutional strengthening and support. “Such a national policy must centre bodily autonomy, choice. and equal value, and it must also emphasise positive state obligations for affirmative action to address inequalities,” she added.   Gender gap The existing gap between how different genders are treated is not limited to South Asian or Asian countries, and different degrees of inequalities exist in many countries.  According to the Global Gender Gap Index 2021 rankings, Sri Lanka is ranked 116th. In 2020, Sri Lanka was ranked 102nd, and according to the newest rankings, the current ranking is a decline of 14 places (countries). However, in terms of the gender gap, Sri Lanka’s ranking is declining – in 2018 (the last report before the 2020 report), Sri Lanka ranked 100th. In 2021, Sri Lanka ranked 132nd in terms of economic participation and opportunity (ranked at 126th in 2020), 88th in terms of educational attainment (ranked the same in 2020), 30th in terms of health and survival (ranked first in 2020), and 90th in terms of political empowerment (ranked 73rd in 2020). In the South Asian region, Sri Lanka ranks third, followed by the Maldives, Bhutan, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, respectively, and Bangladesh (first place) and Nepal (second place) topped the overall ranking in the South Asian region. Sri Lanka had ranked third in the South Asian region in 2020 as well. The report, under its sub-index of “political empowerment” states that women remain acutely underrepresented in the political sphere in the region, and that no country in the region had more than 33% of women’s representation in the Parliament. It noted that in Sri Lanka, women’s representation in politics was as low as 5.4%, and that in the Maldives, it was merely 4.6%. However, it highlighted women becoming heads of state in the region in the past five decades. In the region, gender gaps have increased, and only 28.1% of a gender gap has been bridged, according to the report. Also, in the region, an overall decline in the share of women among minister portfolios has been pointed out by the report, adding that India and Pakistan had reported a significant decline in this regard. The 10 countries with the lowest gender gap, according to the 2021 report, were Iceland, Finland, Norway, New Zealand, Sweden, Namibia, Rwanda, Lithuania, Ireland, and Switzerland.   Pandemic and gender inequality According to the United Nations (UN), due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there are reports that suggest that gender inequality in most of the countries has worsened, especially with regard to various forms of violence including gender based violence and domestic violence. According to UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, 47 million more women have been pushed into living on less than $ 1.90 per day, 10 million more girls are anticipated to be at risk of child marriage over the next decade, and women are “under siege from gender-based violence”, suffering the highest rates of intimate partner violence ever seen, over the last 12 months. In order to address this issue, the UN recommends taking a series of concrete measures, including strengthening legislation against gender-based violence, establishing reporting and redress mechanisms for victims, and committing to violence monitoring.  To address gendered inequality, especially in the Covid-19 pandemic context, UN Secretary General António Guterres recommended realising women’s equal rights fully, including by repealing discriminatory laws and enacting positive measures; ensuring equal representation – from company boards to parliaments, from higher education to public institutions – through special measures and quotas; advancing women’s economic inclusion through equal pay, targeted credit, job protection, and significant investments in the care economy and social protection; enacting an emergency response plan in each country to address violence against women and girls, and following through with funding, policies, and political will; and giving space to the intergenerational transition that is underway. The UN Children’s Fund, or the UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), recognises these inequalities, and says that in all South Asian countries, patriarchal values and social norms keep gender inequalities alive and that discriminatory practices begin even before birth and affect every aspect of a child’s future. With regard to violence, the UNICEF says that the Covid-19 pandemic has caused an increase in gender-related issues affecting women, particularly the exacerbation of key risk factors for violence against women and girls. According to the UNICEF, in the South Asian region, more than 37% of women have experienced violence at the hands of their intimate partners, and the increase in violence against women and girls is fuelled by household, economic, and food insecurity and confined living conditions due to lockdowns and social isolation measures.  “Patriarchal societal norms weaken the participation of women and children in family and community decision-making, especially adolescent girls,” the UNICEF noted, adding that this reduces their ability to demand the fulfilment of their rights to education, health, and protection, and affects the ability of duty bearers to fulfil these rights. It added that in this context, it is imperative to promote the value and empowerment of women and children in South Asia. It also underscored the importance of having and upholding national policies. The aforementioned proposal to formulate a national policy is a good initiative, and if implemented, would result in more acceptance and better opportunities for women in all strata of the society. However, this is just a beginning. On the one hand, its implementation should not be based on governing parties’ interests, and on the other hand, changing the people’s attitudes also needs to receive more attention. In this context, Sri Lanka will have a lot more to do in order to see actual, progressive changes, as a policy alone cannot change a country.