Madu Dissanayake (Director- Advocacy & HIV/AIDS at FPA Sri Lanka)
Ms. Madu Dissanayake identified ‘age category’ as being the main strong hold as a reason of the beginning of gender based violence in Sri Lanka. GBV begins at a tender age of 5 because the younger generation does not understand self-hygiene, expressing feelings and the whole concept of sexual reproduction.
She noted that between the ages 8 and 10, typically in the Sri Lankan tradition, the “coming of age” of a girl is a cultural practice and it is celebrated with a ceremony. To Madu, these ceremonies are overly publicized and they lead to a string of events that causes an imbalance in gender inequality. She believes that parents should begin to talk to their children, both genders, in a non-invasive way about how their bodies will begin to change slowly and that it is natural for some children to have late changes. The parents should be comfortable talking about it, and maybe even talk about how their personal experiences throughout puberty so that children too know that they can be comfortable around their parents, and not worry to talk about anything with them. Parents should make this their entry point to talk about reproductive aspects. She further stated that reproduction is not the ultimate motive and that there are other criteria such as hormonal changes and sexual relationships that play a key role in this.
In terms of Sri Lankan educational system, it matters if a student is educated and the degree of education they have received. . Abused children are more susceptible to drop out from school, due to the lack of services to address GBV concerns. . The lack of a positive, open and close relationship between parents and children is the ‘missing link’, which contributes to a child’s negative behavior, as they grow up. Madu stresses that parents are the best teachers to the younger generation and they need to work towards educating and making their children aware with the practicality of gender equality and sexual reproduction.
In cultural terms of there are limitations, as society looks down on sex education as a vulgar act. However sex education is central when seeking to stop prevalence of GBV. She further noted that it is not possible to stop sexual relationships among teenagers, however it is mandatory that teenagers, are made aware of all the available contraceptives.