5891 child abuse cases reported from 2012 - 2020

Colombo (News 1st): It was recently reported that 5,891 of child abuse cases were reported in the country from 2012 to 2020. According to the UN, 90% of women in Sri Lanka have experienced sexual harassment in public transport. Minister Johnston Fernando stated in the parliament a few days ago that there have been 142 cases of rape, 42 serious sexual abuse and 54 cases of child abuse reported within the first 15 days of this year. Unfortunately, these are not the only statistics that we were able to find. In Sabaragamuwa, Eastern and Southern provinces 1 in 3 female deaths are a result of intimate partner violence. According to police reports, the number of rape cases reported in the year 2017 was 294 and in 2018 the number had risen by 51 to 345. Former chairperson of the National Child Protection Authority Marini De Livera noted that since there is no sex education and discussion about the facts of life boys cannot express themselves and they cannot learn about sex in a healthy way. She added that they either learn from friends or through pornography, therefore, everything is bottled up inside and when they get the urge they use females and harass them, and in a worse case rape them without any qualms of conscience. Chairman National Child Protection Authority Professor Muditha Pathirana said;

"A sizeable number of child abuse cases is not due to increase of real numbers. But people have developed a lot of confidence in the Child Protection Authority and they have an increased number of reporting during the past few months. The Child Protection Authority of Sri Lanka has initiated a lot of new initiatives to protect the rights of the children."

You can contact the National Child Protection Authority through the hotline 1929, and 1938 to contact the Ministry of Women & Child Affairs and Social Security to inform the necessary officials about any sexual misconduct.