Are women really free?

March 8 is International Women's Day.  On this day, special attention is paid to violence against women.  Compared to the past, women are continuously reported to be victims of violence in the workplace, in the military environment, with the racist and religious environment, and especially in the home.   Especially with the male-dominated system that exists in the Asian society, as well as the division based on virginity and various superstitions, women can be seen being oppressed mentally and physically.

It is a pity that the discourse about women's violence and a woman's rights goes back a long way, and songs are especially focused on special days like Women's Day. The first public meeting about women was held on June 19 and 20, 1848, in a suburb of the city of Niyo in the United States, and this was called Seneca Folsey.The women's union that started in this way was adopted by the United Nations in 1979 and Sri Lanka officially signed this convention on July 17, 1980. The Sri Lankan government has accepted all the points of this act consisting of forty-eight articles.

In Sri Lanka, various laws, including the Constitution, have documented laws against violence against women in various provinces, but it is questionable whether those laws provide legal remedies against gender-based violence.

The physical and psychological violence that occurs in workplaces is often not known because work is essential to maintain the economic status. In almost every place, women become insecure due to these reasons or because of the ignorance of the law. In Asian countries including Sri Lanka, more attention should be paid to domestic violence and the reason is that domestic violence is in a hidden form compared to other forms of violence.

All physical, mental and sexual assaults against the woman of the family based on gender discrimination range from simple assaults, aggravated assaults, abductions, threats, intimidation, coercion, stalking, insulting words, forced and illegal entry, arson, destruction of property.  In the past, in a situation where there was no law directly affecting domestic violence, remedies had to be found under the general common law.  Remedies under the common law for exceptional circumstances such as domestic violence have not shown much success in terms of time and other considerations.  This  2005. Domestic Violence Prevention Act No. 34 joined our legal system as a new law filling the gap.  This enables the aggrieved party to seek protection.

No matter how many national and international laws there are about domestic violence as well as mental and physical abuse of women, can it stop the violence and create a truly free environment for women?