A study of sexual abuse of adolescent girl children in Batticaloa

A study of sexual abuse of adolescent girl children in Batticaloa

at least one out of every thirty girls

Gethsie Shanmugam & Sarala Emmanuel 2010

1

Acknowledgements We would like to thank Mr. P. Dharmadasa, statistician and former assistant director at the Department of Census & Statistics, Dr. Angela Arulpragasam, paediatrician at the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital, Dr. M. Ganesan, psychiatrist at the National Institute of Mental Health and Mr. Ananda Galappatti of the Good Practice Group for providing valuable and critical guidance on the research methodology. We sincerely appreciate the warm support and encouragement extended to us by Mr. N.P.K. Nelundeniya, Eastern Province Commissioner for Probation & Child Care, in carrying out this research. We would like to acknowledge the support of Ms. Angelina Francis and Mr. Nilanga Abeysinghe in the data entry and data analysis process respectively, and we would like to sincerely thank Ms. T. Gurusanthini in carrying out the preparatory layout work for this publication. Ms. Sonali Gunesekera, gender consultant of Save the Children in Sri Lanka, who initiated this research and was fully involved throughout the process was an invaluable support and sounding board for us. We are also grateful to ESCAPE for the excellent child protection video that was vital to the success of this study, and to Niveditha Balaranjit and Columbia University’s Program on Forced Migration and Health for their work to develop the initial research methodology for the Trincomalee study on which our research was based. The field interviews were carried out by Amutha Rajasingam, Jesuretnam Suthith Retneswary, Jainul Abdeen Jesmin Begam, Rajendram Kavitha, Sukirtha Satheeswaran, Kosala Jeganathan, Johaluxmy Kasinathan, Kanchana Ramanathan, Rajasri Amutharajah, Rajani Kanagalingam, Rathika Atputharajah and Luxshakumary Thamotharam, and we thank them sincerely for their sensitive work. We would also like to thank Ms. J. Jeyatharshini from SCiSL Trincomalee office, Mr. Andrew Larzarus and Ms. Vijitha Tissaverasinghe of SCiSL Batticaloa office, Mr. Yathavan Rajakulendran from SCiSL Colombo office for their input as trainers and supervisors consistantly supporting and encouraging the field research team. We particularly appreciate the warm support extended to us by Ms. T.Pushparani who took care of our daily requirements at the guest house and the support staff of Save the Children in Sri Lanka – without whose assistance we would not have been able to carry out the research in an efficient and sensitive manner. We would like to specially mention the support provided to us by the Poratheevu Pattu Development and Rehabilitation Organisation and the YMCA Batticaloa in carrying out this research at the field level. The assistance of Ms. Nalini and Ms. Yaso for helping us with the follow up of cases was crucial. Last but not least we would like to thank the staff of Snehatheepam for supporting us in verifying cases and following up with specific cases.

Sarala Emmanuel & Gethsie Shanmugam

2

Acronyms GCE A/L

General Certificate of Education (GCE) Advanced Level

DCPU

District Child Protection Unit

DPCC

Department of Probation and Child Care

DS

Divisional Secretary

GS

Grama Sevaka

NGO

Non Governmental Organisation

GCE O/L

General Certificate of Education (GCE) Ordinary Level

PPDRO

Poratheevu Pattu Development and Rehabilitation Organisation

SCiSL

Save the Children in Sri Lanka

3

Contents

Executive Summary................................................ 5 Chapter 1.................................................................. 9 Introduction Chapter 2.................................................................. 15 Methodology Chapter 3.................................................................. 24 Findings Chapter 4.................................................................. 44 Recommendations Bibliography.............................................................46 Appendix I...................................................................47 Appendix II..................................................................50

4

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Credible and accurate estimates of the nature and extent of sexual violence and abuse of children in Sri Lanka do not currently exist, making it difficult for service providers to assess the scale of the issue, plan targeted responses and advocate for essential services. A major factor in the information gap is the lack of a robust, cost-efficient and ethical methodology to collect information on the incidence of sexual abuse of children. This research aimed to measure the prevalence of sexual abuse among girl children in the 47 villages of Batticaloa District where Save the Children Sri Lanka and its partner organizations worked. This was a pilot research study involving 206 interviews with girls between the ages of 14 -18. The total number of girls children between the ages of 14 - 18 in the 47 villages was 3075 out of which we selected 206 (6.5% of total research population) using a stratified cluster sampling methodology. The categories of abuse that were studied were drawn up based on the Sri Lankan law as well as similar studies done in the UK and India.

1.

Sexual Harassment - Making an obscene remark about child (face, body, body parts etc) - Making an obscene gesture to a child - Showing a child pornographic pictures - Exposing genitalia to a child - By words or actions causing ‘sexual annoyance’ or harassment

2.

Grave Sexual Abuse - Touching or trying to touch a child’s genitalia - Forcing a child to touch another person’s genitalia - Putting an object inside a child’s anus - Putting sexual organs inside a child (mouth, anus) - Sexual hugging or kissing (including sexual sitting on lap) - Oral sex - Making child watch live sex acts

3.

Rape and incest - Sexual intercourse with a girl under age 16 - Non-consensual sexual intercourse - Sexual intercourse with relatives or in-laws specified under Sri Lankan law

5

Socio economic situation of children interviewed for the research study The following section gives a description of the socio-economic situation of the children who were interviewed. We do not in this report claim to make any correlations between the socio-economic situation and incidence of child sexual abuse. However, the general context in which the children lived, and their experiences of hardship and poverty raised many concerns about the overall well-being of children in Batticaloa. 42 children (20.3%) who we interviewed were not attending school or had dropped out. ® More than 2 out of every 10 children of the age group of 15-18 who we interviewed were not going to school. ®

® 27 (13.1%) children had dropped out of school earlier than O/L. ® Out of the 27 who had dropped out of school early, 9 children

® ® ® ®

were married and 1 child who was pregnant after being raped had also dropped out of school early. 6 of them already had a baby. 4 of them had had a baby at 16 years. 65% of children who had dropped out of school came from large families with six or more than six members. More than 3 out of every 10 children we interviewed came from families that had 7 or more members.

® 55.3% had a household monthly income less than 10,000/- that

is less than 300/- per day to meet all family expenses. ® 40% of families depended on foreign remittances. ® Only 6 children (2.9%) interviewed had a mother abroad. ® More than 2 in 10 children we spoke to lived in temporary housing

® 4 out of every 10 children we spoke to did not have access to

toilets in their own homes.

® 1 in every 10 children had only two meals a day – usually dinner

and left over dinner for breakfast

6

Main findings ® The self reported prevalence rates of children subjected

to sexual abuse within the sample was 3.4%. In other words in a group of 30 girls between the age of 14-18 there would be one child who has been raped or has faced grave sexual abuse. The prevalence rate was calculated by giving a percentage of those children we interviewed who spoke of sexual abuse to themselves. Given the stigma and pain associated with sexual abuse, it is likely that the actual prevelence rate is somewhat higher. ® The Prevalence rates of child sexual abuse incidents within

the sample was 4.37%. There were children who had multiple experiences of sexual abuse by different perpetrators. ® Within the sample we came accross 1 child who was

raped, 2 children who were experiencing marital rape, and 4 children who had experienced grave sexual abuse. Through the follow up process, in addition to the 7 children from the sample, the research team met 2 children who were raped and 1 child who had faced grave sexual abuse. ® 16.5% children interviewed had either directly

experienced or new of someone (a family member or close friend) who had experienced sexual abuse. We documented 22 cases of rape of children and 1 case of attempted rape. We also documented 11 cases of grave sexual abuse. In other words more than 3 in 20 children interviewed had directly experienced or knew another child who had experienced sexual abuse. ® 27.7% children interviewed had either directly

experienced or knew of someone (a family member or close friend) who had experienced sexual harassment. In other words nearly 3 children out of 10 had directly experienced or knew someone (a family member or close friend) who had experienced sexual harassment. In 47% of the cases of sexual abuse discussed in the research, the abuse had taken place within the child’s home.

®

As far as the research team could verify, in terms of the 23 cases of rape (including attempted rape and incest reported), 17 cases had been referred to the police.

®

7

In the case of some of the children we followed up, there had been chronic abuse. They had ambivalent feelings of anger, lasting guilt, and feelings of low self worth. There was intense shame about the experience, although they were not responsible for the adults’ behaviour. School seemed to be a common location where girls experienced sexual harassment (in 21% of cases in other words in one fifth of the cases). The team felt that in many of these cases young adolescent boys did not know how to relate to young girls in a respectful and equal way. The team felt that this could be due to lack of positive role models and spaces to discuss issues of growing up in a sensible and supportive manner. There need to be general programmes organised with teenage children about leadership, their changing biological and social roles, sexuality, and how to have healthy and respectful relationships between girls and boys to provide alternatives to sexual harassment and sometimes grave sexual abuse. This research study highlighted the fact that there was a good coordination and response system between the different child protection units in the Batticaloa district. There was close collaboration between the District Secretariat of the NCPA, Snehatheepam, Police and the Department of Probation and Child Care. As stated earlier, except in six cases out of the 23 identified, all other rape cases had had a response from the child protection network. There was immediate support for the child and legal processes were initiated. In other cases also there had been some response from other service providers in the short term. However, one of the main concerns raised by this study is the long term impact of abuse and lack of lasting support to children who have been sexually abused. Children who have faced abuse need support to cope with anxiety and fears using simple techniques that community based child supporters could teach them. Some useful skills for community workers to know and teach children would be related to breathing, exercising, yoga, and meditation so that they can sleep better and cope with moments of fear and anxiety. Another positive finding was that most of the children who had faced abuse were placed back in the community under the care of a family member and not institutionalized as was the practice in other districts. However, there were some shortcomings regarding this process. There was no effective and comprehensive support for the child in the long term within the community setting to enable them to heal and integrate back into the community. Cultural stigma was another big problem that children faced. Sometimes, to avoid social shame the girl was married off to the perpetrator. Children were marginalised by other children and sometimes the worst cruelty came from within the family. Generally there needs to be much work done on promoting children’s schooling – specially girl children’s schooling, to reduce school drop out rates amongst survivors of abuse, as well as changing attitudes on early marriage and re-victimization of survivors. It was sad to note that in situations of grave sexual abuse, there was silence surrounding the incidents. Out of the 11 cases of grave sexual abuse, only one case was reported to the police. In all the cases, the children had run away from the place and avoided being alone with the person again. In 4 cases, the children had only disclosed what happened, to their closest friend and were afraid to tell anyone else. In six cases, the children had told their parents or another family member. In some of the cases the parents had spoken to the perpetrator, but in two of the cases the mothers did not believe the child. There should be strengthening of a child to child protection approach so that young children are aware of such risks. Almost all the children appreciated the video and asked for the video to be shown in their schools and communities.

8

CHAPTER 1

“The sexual abuse of children is not a new problem. Generations of children have been sexually abused in secret and remained silent.....Many survivors have carried the secret of their abuse to the grave; others still carry the burden of that secret and suffer in silence....The shame and secrecy that surrounds sexual abuse and keeps people silent makes it difficult to estimate the number of people who have been sexually abused. The results of research studies vary but it is generally believed that at least 1 in 10 people has been sexually abused as a child.” ( Ainscough and Toon, 1993 p.3) 1.1

Incidence of child sexual abuse in Sri Lanka

Child sexual abuse is one of the most serious violations of children’s rights in a country like Sri Lanka, which has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Sri Lanka has the obligation of strengthening strategies, promoting right attitudes and facilitating practices to ensure child rights. The collection of data and compilation of information on child sexual abuse through the participation of children is one minor but essential step towards securing the protection of children. Lawyers for Human Rights and Development conducted a study in five High Courts with jurisdiction over 11 Districts in 2003. The time-period they studied was between 1999-2001. ® ® ® ® ®

Anuradhapura High Court (Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa) Badulla High Court (Badulla and Moneragala) Kandy High Court (Kandy, Nuwaraeliya and Matale) Kurunegala High Court (Kurunegala) Vavuniya High Court (Vavuniya, Mannar and Kilinochchi) High Court Anuradhapura High Court Kurunegala High Court Badulla High Court Kandy High Court Vavuniya High Court

Number of sexual abuse cases studied(1999-2001) 164

133 sexual abuse of girls (under 16)

120

120 girls (under 16)

65 25

65 child sexual abuse cases 25 child sexual abuse cases

4

2 Rape; 2 child sexual abuse

(LHRD, 2003) LHRD studied the cases of 347 girls under 16 years of age who were raped or were victims of grave sexual abuse within a three year time period. However, as this study investigated the legal processes and social background of cases that had come to the courts, it did not indicate the general prevalence rate of child sexual abuse within the population. The following table shows national data on child sexual abuse between 1995 - 2000. The national data shows an increase in number of complaints received by the police since the Penal Code ammendments of 1995. Statistics shown in the larger font are statistics issued prior to 2000. Statistics shown in the smaller font below are statistics issued in 2001/2002 (LHRD, 2003). There is no explanation given on the discrepency in the official data. 9

Police statistics relating to child sexual abuse for the period 1995 - 2000

Offence

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

Criminal Force / Sexual Harrassment

247

204

110

154

101

193

259

219

208

271

554

308

385

609

668

43

22

13

50

90

137

359

Rape Grave Sexual abuse

155 -

168 -

329

Unnatural Offence

38

54

31

51

322 154 47

74

Gross Indency

31 9

49 -

20 11

2 2 23

23 15 38

22

Sexual Abuse

Incest 1.2

2000

7

9

Batticaloa incidence of child sexual abuse of girls

18

(LHRD, 2003)

According to the Annual Report (2008) of the NCPA District Secretariat Batticaloa - out of a total number of 85 cases reported to them there were 35 cases of sexual abuse (42%). 34 of these cases concerned girls. Similar data was available from Snehatheepam the temporary safe house for children who go through the legal system. According to their report of 2006 out of 241 children who had stayed there, 29 (12%) were there because of sexual abuse and in 2008 out of 133 children who stayed at the safe house 20 (15%) girls were there for sexual abuse. Since Snehatheepam works closely with the government child protection agencies, there would be overlap between data given by Snehatheepam and the NCPA District Secretariat. Apart from statistics from enforcement agencies and service providers of cases they have dealt with, there were no community studies of the incidence of child sexual abuse of girls. 1.3

Pilot study in Trincomalee (2008)

A pilot research was first conducted in Trincomalee district in 2008 to measure the incidences of violence and sexual abuse of children. This was done in partnership with Columbia University USA, through a collaboration established between Save the Children UK and Columbia University. A novel methodology called the “Neighbourhood Method” was tested and used as part of this study. SCiSL, together with a group of local interviewers, worked together with Columbia University to adapt the methodology to suit the project’s needs in Sri Lanka’s eastern districts. SCiSL included a child-focussed approach to the methodology in order to understand the child abuse situation in Trincomalee district. There were two phases in the research project. The first phase was to collect data by using the neighbourhood methodology and interviewed women (head of the household) about issues of domestic physical violence, corporal punishment, sexual abuse and rape. The second phase of the study was designed to adapt the methodology to include children’s participation in the study and included focus group discussions with young girls between the ages of 16-18 and follow up with individual interviews with these young women on the issue of sexual abuse and rape. Due to differences in methodology and analysis, it unfortunately was not possible to compare the two studies. Following the Trincomalee study, Save the Children Sri Lanka initiated the Batticaloa study in 2009, specifically exploring the incidence of child sexual abuse. 10

1.4

What is sexual abuse?

The categories of abuse that were studied were drawn up based on the Sri Lankan law as well as similar studies done in the UK and India. The sections below were taken directly from the Orientation Manual on Law Relating to Child Abuse and Child Labour (2002), Lawyers for Human Rights and Development, Colombo. It is important to note here that this study categorized certain types of child sexual abuse differently to the Sri Lankan law. For example, we separately documented marital rape even though this is not recognised under Sri Lankan law. We also categorised sexual abuse that took place “in the home” – going beyond incest as defined by the Sri Lankan legal system. The rationale for doing this was that the home was often assumed to be the safest place for a child. However, this study showed that much of the abuse also took place within the home by both relatives as well as others whom the child knew well and trusted. This study documented incidence of the following sexual offences against children:

a) Sexual harassment “Who ever by assault or use of criminal force, sexually harasses another person, or by the use of words or actions, causes sexual annoyance or harassment to such other person.” (Penal Code 1995 amendment S.345)

For the study, this was further broken down to elaborate the following in a way a child would understand - by words or actions causes sexual annoyance or harassment - Making a dirty remark about child (face, body, body parts etc) - Making an obscene gesture to a child - Showing a child naked or dirty pictures - Exposing private parts to a child

b) Grave Sexual Abuse “Any sexual act, being an act not amounting to rape under S.363, committed by any person, for sexual gratification, by the use of his genitals or any other part of the human body or any instrument on any orifice or part of the body of any other person (1995 amendment to the Penal Code) -

11

Amendment Act No. 29 of 1998 a.

with or without the consent of the other person when the other person is under 16 years of age; or

b

With the consent of the other person or while such other person was in lawful or unlawful detention or where that consent has been obtained by use of force, or intimidation or threat of detention or by putting such other person in fear of death or hurt

c.

With the consent of the other person obtained while the other person is in a state of unsound mind or in a state of intoxication induced by alcohol or drugs.”

The legal frameworks implied but did not specify other inappropriate sexual behaviours, such as hugging a child against an adult’s erection, ‘accidentally’ fondling genitals or breasts repeatedly, kisses that turn into ‘French’ kissing. Therefore this research used a broad framework that enabled the team to capture the varied experiences of children, and which was elaborated in language that the child would understand.

Simplified list of actions constituting grave sexual abuse: - Touching or trying to touch a child’s private body parts - Forcing a child to touch another person’s private body parts - Putting an object inside a child’s anus - Putting organs inside a child (mouth, anus) - Sexual hugging or kissing (sexual sitting on lap) - Oral sex - Making child watch live sex acts

Other studies that document sexual abuse from the point of view of its impact on the child discuss how sometimes children’s bodies are not directly touched. Instead they witness sexual behaviour of adults – such as exposure, masturbation or intercourse. These incidents too have a damaging and distressing effect on children. Therefore sexual abuse would be an adult involving a child in any activity from which the adult expects to derive sexual arousal (Parks, 1990).

c) Rape “Having sexual intercourse with a woman under circumstances falling under any of the following descriptions a. Without her consent even where such a woman is his wife and she is judicially separated from the man b. With her consent, while she was in lawful or unlawful detention or when her consent has been obtained by use of force or intimidation, or by threat of detention or by putting her in fear of death or hurt

12

c. With her consent when her consent has been obtained at a time when she was of unsound mind or was in a state of intoxication induced by alcohol or drugs, administered to her by the man or by some other person . d. With her consent when the man knows that he is not her husband,and that her consent is given because she believes that he is another man to whom she is or believed herself to be lawfully married.

In summary therefore 1. Only a girl above the age of 16 years can consent to have sex. 2. Any person who has sexual intercourse with a girl under 16 years of age commits statutory rape (LHRD, 2003, p.11)

d) Incest “Who ever has sexual intercourse with a person who a. Is the direct descendent or ascendant of the other or is the adoptive parent, adoptive grand parent, adopted child or adopted grand child; or is the sister/brother either by full or half blood or by adoption or is the daughter/son of his brother or sister by full or half blood or by adoption or is a descendent of either of them, or is the daughter or son of his wife/her husband by another father or is his son’s or grand son’s or father’s or grand father’s widow or her deceased daughter’s or grand daughter’s or mother’s or grand mother’s husband commits incest.” S. 364A of the Penal Code

13

In most cases of child sexual abuse globally, the perpetrator is known to the child. In the UK, according to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, in 86% of the cases it was a relative or someone known to the child who committed the crime (Parks, 1990). In Batticaloa District, according to the NCPA District Secretariat Report of 2008, in 61 of the 84 cases (71.7%) reported to them including the sexual abuse cases, the suspect was a known person (parent, uncle, aunt or husband). According to the cases that came to the temporary shelter in Batticaloa (Snehatheepam) in all except for one (where the perpetrator was identified as a policeman) 19 sexual abuse cases in 2008, the abuse was perpetrated by people known to the child . Eight were by relatives, 8 of neighbours and 3 were by boyfriends. Under Sri Lankan law, sexual abuse by a relative or in-law is only categorised as incest when there has been intercourse. This makes invisible many incidents that would fall within a broader understanding of incest that includes grave sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The objective of this study was to document prevalence rates within the community. Therefore we did not follow cases through the legal process. This report does not document the status of cases or the sentences given to particular cases. However, we do raise certain issues related to children’s well-being after they have returned to the community following a legal case.

14

CHAPTER 2

2. Methodology Researching child sexual abuse is a very sensitive and difficult process. Many children would not reveal such personal and terrible experiences to a researcher through an interview process, and indeed some children never disclose abuse to anyone.

2.1

Objective -

Credible and accurate estimates of the nature and extent of sexual violence and abuse of children in Sri Lanka do not currently exist, making it difficult for service providers to assess the scale of the issue, plan targeted responses and advocate for essential services. A major factor in the information gap is the lack of a robust, cost-efficient and ethical methodology to collect information on the incidence of sexual abuse of children. This research aimed to understand the prevalence of sexual abuse among girl children in 47 villages of Batticaloa District where Save the Children Sri Lanka and its partner organizations worked. This was a pilot research involving 206 interviews with girls between the ages of 14-18. The total number of girl children between the ages of 14-18 in the 47 villages was 3075, out of which we sellected 206 (6.5% of the total research population) using a cluster sampling methodology. This research would be useful for planning future programming for Save the Children in Sri Lanka in terms of addressing issues of sexual abuse of children. It is hoped that the findings from the study would be also useful for service providers including the Department of Probation and Child Care, the Batticaloa DCPU and non governmental organisations. 2.2

Sampling -

This study was conducted only in the villages that Save the Children Sri Lanka(SCiSL) was working in in the Batticaloa district. 20 villages were randomly selected from the 47 villages that Save the Children Sri Lanka worked in. From the 20 villages lists of girls between the ages of 14-18 were collected through the Divisional Secretary(DS) and school principals. 10 girls were randomly sampled from these lists to be interviewed. The rationale for limiting the study to villages that SCiSL were working was that if issues arose where follow up support for the girl was required, SCiSL staff or a SCiSL partner organisation would be able to follow up with individual children following the completion of the study. In a few locations there were difficulties in carrying out 10 interviews. Sometimes children who had agreed to come earlier did not turn up. Since it was a systematic sample, the team did not ask others to take part in the interview once they got there, even if the number was low. Also the team could not interview children individually on another day as the research protocol required the girls to be together as a group of five (see interview process description below). Therefore with the advice of the statistician, we included two more villages at the end of the study to meet the sampling requirements. 15

Table 1 – Sample of villages and children

Number of children 1 Eravur Pattu 9 Kaluwankerny 01 Arumothankudiyeuppu 10 2 Eravur Pattu 3 Koralai Pattu South Kiran East 9 4 Manmunai West 8 Mahilavettuwan 5 Manmunai West 12 Mangikattu 6 Manmunai West Kancharankudha 9 7 Poratheevu Pattu Palayadivettai 10 9 8 Poratheevu Pattu Periya Poratheevu 9 Poratheevu Pattu Mandur Kottamunai 10 10 Poratheevu Pattu 10 Kovil Poratheevu 11 Poratheevu Pattu 10 Sinnawatta 12 Poratheevu Pattu Palacholai 10 13 Poratheevu Pattu Vivekananthapuram 10 10 14 Poratheevu Pattu Unit 40 Poratheevu Pattu Palugamam 2 10 15 16 Poratheevu Pattu Vilanthottam 8 17 Poratheevu Pattu Vellavelly 7 10 18 Poratheevu Pattu Thikkodai 19 Poratheevu Pattu Munnaitheevu 10 10 20 Poratheevu Pattu Vanninagar 21 Poratheevu Pattu 10 Youth Farm Scheme 5 22 Manmunai West Manjanthoduwai Total 206

S.No

Division

Village

16

Batticaloa sample Work sheet DS div

GN /Village Number of village selected

No. of girls 14-18 yrs Systematic sample

1. Valaichchannai

1. Kalmadhu

73

2. Kiran/ Koralai Pattu S.

2. Kiran E CAAG

112

84

1

238

2

392

3

546

4

3. Chenkaladi- Eravur Pattu 3. Kiran W. CAAG 4.Kaluwankerni 1

66

5.Kaluwankerni 2

43

6. Arumugatankudiyeruppu 1

43

7. Arumugatankudiyeruppu 2

35

8. Mailampavali

35

4. Batti. Town Manmunai N 9. Manchentoduwai

33

10. Mahilavattuwan

78

11. Narripulthoddam

45 43

5. Manmunai W.

12. Gandhinagar 14. Kanchirankudha

24 95

15. Karadipooval

11

13. Mangikattu

700

5

123

854

6

17. Unit-40

197

1008

7

18. Thumbankerni 19. Youth Farm scheme

47 47

1162

8

20. Kalumunthanaveli

57

21. Sorupannalaiyuttu

55

22. Sinnavatttai

149

1316

9

23. Palacholai

75 59

1470

10

1624

11

6. Vellavali-Porathevupattu 16. Thikkodai

24. Yanaikattiya veli 25. Kakachchivettai 26. Palayadivettai

11 81

27. Mandur S.

33

28. Mandur N. 29. Mandur Koddamunai

28 58 63 69 81

30.Palamunai 31.Unit-35 32. Vellavely

17

1778

1932

12

13

GN /Village Number of village selected

DS div

No. of girls 14-18 yrs

38. Palugamam 2

45 85 71 123 49 55

39. Mavatkudah

85

40. Vanninagar

71

41. Vipulanathapuram

65

42. Veerachenai

47

43. Kovilpraitivu N 44. Kovilpraitivu S

33. Punnakulam 34. Periyaporathivu 35. Paddapuram 36. Munaitivu 37. Palugamam 1

Systematic sample

2086

14

2240

15

2394

16

2548

17

67 74

2702

18

45.Vivehananthapuram

65

2856

19

46. Nellikadu

64 106

3010

20

47. Vilanthatottam

3076

Total

Sample size Sample fraction Sample as a % of Total Girl respondents per cluster No. of villages to be selected

200 153.8 6.5 10 20

18

2.3

Consent -

The field workers of the partner organisations verbally informed the families of the systematically sampled girls about the research. The parents and the girl were told that this was research exploring the experiences of young girls and the information collected would be useful for future planning of the work of SCiSL. The parents and girl were given the opportunity to decline to participate if they wished. Before the interview, the interviewer again asked if the girl was interested and willing to participate (see attached questionnaire sheet). It was explained to the child that at any given time of the interview the child could refuse to participate in the interview. Based on past experience, the researchers felt that getting written consent would only frighten the child and the family, and would be misunderstood as having some legal implications for them (rather than the researchers). The interview schedule (see attached) was designed to reduce pressure on participating children to disclose experiences of sexual abuse or harrassment, for example by avoiding probing about specific experiences. 2.4

Confidentiality -

The details of each interview were only shared between the interviewer and senior researchers. The fact that all information provided in the interview was confidential was explained to the child before the interview. In serious cases of abuse or risk, information was shared with other support providers after obtaining the consent of the child. In the event that the child opposed wider disclosure the interviewer (who was also a childcare worker) was assigned to follow up and respond to the individual case. 2.5

Training -

The research team comprised of 12 women interviewers. The interviewers went through an intensive training of three days where experienced trainers and counsellors discussed the sensitive and ethical issues of the study. The training team comprised of two senior consultants from the Save the Children in Sri Lanka office in Colombo, one senior staff from the Trincomalee office who had been part of the Trincomalee study, and the two researchers of this study, Gethsie Shanmugam and Sarala Emmanuel. Three of the interviewers were staff of partner organisations of SCiSL. Six interviewers were staff of SCiSL and another three had worked on the previous study and were recruited full-time for this study as well. During training, the interviewers practised how to introduce the video. They were made to role play their interviewer role, and feed back was given to each one. For example, suggestions were given to the interviewers about their tone of voice, body language, attitude towards the children and how to proceed at the child’s pace. The team discussed that it was natural that the children may be confused about details, and were advised to be supportive to the child. They were instructed to be careful not to pressure the child. The interviewers were also told to avoid giving advice and asking for reasons for events or experiences when interviewing. The team went through the definitions of different forms of sexual abuse. The team also worked through the interview questionnaire and the style of interviewing required for the research. The interviewers were then taken for piloting the questionnaire to two different locations. These pilot sessions were monitored by the trainers and appropriate feedback given to the interviewers. Here, the trainers observed how the interviewers approached the child, how they chose a private location to chat, how they introduced the video, how they listened, and the body language they displayed. After the pilot testing, feedback was given to each interviewer. The interviewers were also given opportunities to ask questions about how to deal with difficult situations and how to respond to certain scenarios. They were advised to adhere to the following 19

s s s s s

s s s s s

Never to over react to disclosures, as this may intimidate the child Always reassure the child that she was not to blame for what happened. To listen without judgement and only ask clarifications when necessary. Allow the child to say and feel what ever they wanted. When children did confide in the interviewer they were asked to thank the child for the disclosure and assure her that she is believed and the information will be kept confidential unless follow up was needed. Ask open and supportive questions such as ‘what happened next?’ Not to minimise the story Not to react negatively Not to say things like ‘how can you still love that person?’, ‘Why didn’t you resist?’ ‘Why didn’t you tell anyone?’ ‘It is time you got over it and moved on’ Not to make the child feel silly or stupid for caring for the abuser

Once the research started, each day five interviewers went to the field to carry out the interviews. Key ethical principles which guided the research -

1. The team must keep as highest priority the immediate safety and protection of children from further victimization. 2. Children’s welfare should take precedence over any other consideration. 3. If indications of possible abuse were observed, further investigation is required. 4. Follow up support must be put in place for children who have experienced sexual abuse and monitoring mechanisms put in place for children under possible risk 5. Consent and confidentiality principles must be strongly adhered to.

2.6 Interview process/Study protocol The whole process in each location took approximately three hours. The team went in the afternoons when the children were back home from school. One of the five interviewers acted as the team leader each day. She was responsible for all preparations for that day. A quiet and private space was chosen for the interviews. Sometimes the five children were met in a community centre or sometimes in a house. First, the interview team was introduced by the team leader and a small ice breaker game was played with the children to create a easy atmosphere and relax the children. Then a 22 minute video developed by the non-government agency ESCAPE, which sensitively discussed issues ‘good touches and bad touches’, was shown to the children. In all the locations the children were silent and very intent when watching the video. They wanted to be close to the laptop screen to be able to see and hear the discussions well. Focus group discussions were done following the viewing of the video and very general questions were asked from the children about the video. This was also considered as part of the children getting to know the interviewers. The children were very positive about the video and requested that it be shown to other children in the village and also be shown to parents. Then, each child would be paired with one interviewer and find a quiet place to carry out the interview. The interviewer was able to develop a rapport with the girl and have a comfortable one-to-one chat with her. In several of the serious cases, the child agreed to only talk to the same interviewer and not to anyone else. Then that interviewer was also responsible to carry out the follow up visit to the girl (see also section on follow up). The individual interview took approximately one hour. 20

2.7 The video “The 22 minute video provided an effective foundation for beginning a discussion about personal experiences of sexual abuse. The video – which was produced in both Tamil and Sinhala – begins by discussing ‘good touches’. Children in the video offer examples of good touches that include helping someone who has fallen and holding hands with a friend. The video next turns its attention to (nonsexual) ‘bad touches’. The children identify a series of bad touches. In one scene, a child pulls the hair of her friend. In another, a child pushes his friend off of a swing. The discussion then turns to the importance of telling an adult when someone is hurting you, and why it may be difficult to do so. The children in the video talk about being afraid to say no to an adult because he/she is ‘a big person’, and fearing that by telling an adult the child will anger the adult or be scolded. Next, the children go through an exercise (using male and female dolls) where they identify the parts of the body that can and cannot be touched by others. At this point, three different scenarios about sexual abuse are presented. The scenarios teach the children about important ways they can protect themselves (say no, shout to get attention, run away) and important questions children should ask themselves before going somewhere with an adult (does the child want to go with the adult, do any other adults know where the child is going, will there be someone else there to help if there is any trouble). Finally, the video acknowledges that sometimes a child is unable to protect him or herself. The video emphasizes that this is not the child’s fault and stresses the importance of finding and telling an adult who the child thinks will believe him/her. The video ends with an upbeat song that re-emphasizes the main points of the video and reminds children that they are all unique and special.” (Summary of Phase two Neighbourhood Method Research, 2009)

2.8

The Questionnaire

The questionnaire administered during the individual interviews discussed general experiences of children in the village, any incidents that their friends may have experienced and finally any personal experiences. The questionnaire was designed in this manner deliberately as the experience of the senior counsellors and child supporters was that usually children spoke about their friends more comfortably than they did about themselves. The recall period was the child’s life time. Sometimes children said they were talking about their friends but in actual fact it was clear that they were talking about their own experiences. However, these were not recorded as direct experiences unless explicitly disclosed by children. For note keeping, the interviewers made brief notes while talking to the child, but filled in the questionnaire immediately afterwards, once the child had left. A contact number of the interviewer or counsellor was given to the child so that she could contact the research team at any time she wished. Sometimes children were very mature and were able to articulate their problems and concerns well. In a few cases, children took a long time to feel confident to talk to the interviewer. There were also children who became fearful with the research questions and gave contradictory information when responding to the questions. In these situations, the interviewer tried as much as possible to reassure the child about confidentiality, but did not push the child to respond. The interviewers were always instructed to note down their observations about the child while they were interviewing them, and to discuss with the counsellor during the daily debriefing sessions if they were worried about any particular child. Once a woman from the village walked into the interview space and wanted to know more about what was happening and why other children were not called. The research process was then explained to her by the interview team.

21

2.9

Support and supervision -

A senior counsellor (Ms. Gethsie Shanmugam) was available at all times to support the children and the interviewers when difficult or sensitive cases came up. There were debriefing sessions each morning on the interviews which were conducted the previous day. Where needed and when requested by the child, follow up support was provided to children who had experienced serious abuse. Whenever the child was at serious risk, the situation was reviewed by the senior counsellor and appropriate monitoring systems were put in place. In the course of the study, 39 cases were followed up by the senior counsellor. In a few cases, the child did not want to meet or talk to anyone as they felt it would have a negative impact on their relationship with family members. In such cases, a considered judgement was made and monitoring systems put in place. However, in most cases the team was able to visit the children and talk to them about their situation and put in place some follow up support for them. 2.10 Methodology for follow up Immediately at the time of interviews, 9 children were selected for follow up and follow up field visits by the senior counsellor were arranged. In the second round, 30 children were identified for follow up visits. It was crutial that dedicated highlievel human resources were available for follow up, assessment of risk and intervention planning, in addition to the option for referral to local service providers. It was still not always easy to identify the best course of action in supporting children as each set of options had their own set of associated risks. Saturday and Sunday were chosen for the follow up visits as the children would be free to meet and talk. The trained staff from the partner organisations meanwhile helped to discreetly find out about the children from outside the sample who were mentioned by children directly interviewed so that the team could meet these children as well. This process was carried out in a way that was sensitive and confidential. The field staff checked if these children were willing to meet the team. If not, the team did not push for this. In three cases, the children did not want to meet the senior counsellor as they didn’t want their families to know that they had spoken to the team about specific incidents. In some cases, the children’s families had moved away and in one instance the team could not access the location due to heavy flooding and alternative arrangements were made for follow-up. The researchers were careful and sensitive when children did speak about their own experiences. As one child told the interviewer - “This was the first time I spoke about these things with anyone else. I felt relieved after talking”. The interviewer gave her personal mobile number and the land number of the SCiSL staff members working on child protection after the interview, and encouraged the child to call if she wanted to talk further or wanted some support. Follow up contact with the child was also arranged. The research team also worked together with a few community workers who were already working with children and trained in responding to such issues. These community workers took the responsibility to find out about certain cases, as well as to make sure that the follow up support did take place for each child (even after the research process ended). This process was especially important in relation to children who were identified as being at risk. 2.11 Risks Since this was a sensitive topic and the research was targeted towards children we carefully thought through support to the children who may have experienced sexual abuse. We formed an advisory group in Colombo who went through the methodology and provided critical guidance for the research. The interviewers were 22

asked to refer all serious cases to the senior counsellor. We also shared our methodology with independent persons who worked in the field of child protection to get their recommendations for the methodology. This included a paediatrician at the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital, the Eastern Province Commissioner for Probation & Child Care, and research advisors from SCiSL. In addition an institutional ethical review was sought from the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital, but the submission was not reviewed dut to the research not being conducted through the hospital.

2.12 Validity of information When children spoke about cases which had gone to the police and through the legal system, the research team were able to verify those cases with other organisations supporting children who go through the legal system. This was a very useful resource as sometimes there was contradictory and confusing information that came from the children interviewed. Sometimes several children spoke of the same incident. However, each child had a variation to the story. One of the first steps in the follow up process was to verify these stories – i.e. were these stories in relation to one incident or were actually different events? The team was able to carry out this verification by checking with the child supporters at the field level of the partner NGO as well as through other NGOs who supported children who had gone through legal processes. Following this verification, we tried to directly meet each child who was identified to have experienced sexual abuse. 2.13 Impact and relevance of the research The results and the recommendations from the research will guide Save the Children in Sri Lanka’s programming on gender-based violence in the Batticaloa district. Two partner NGOs, PPDRO and YMCA were involved in this research and since these local NGO’s work actively in the 47 villages, their involvement with this research would benefit their child protection work within the community. Once the research has been completed the local NGOs who are working in the villages would share the information in the report with the village child rights monitoring committees and local leaders. We also hope to present the report to state bodies working on child rights such as the Department of Probation and Child Care Services and the District Secretariat for NCPA and other child protection agencies within the district. We hope that this research would provide a sensitive and novel methodology to measure incidence of sexual abuse of children which could be adapted and applied in other contexts as well. We would like to reiterate the importance of ensuring follow-up with cases when children disclose sexual abuse either of themselves or children known to them. This applies to situations where children may be at risk of sexual abuse as well. Without a serious commitment of resources to ensure follow-up (not simply referral to other service providers), this sort of research would be ethically compromised and potentially irresponsible. Adequate support for interviewers is also crucial as the research exposes the team to extremely distressing stories that provoke strong emotional reactions.

2.14 Conflicts of interest The senior researchers have been employed as independent consultants to the research and therefore held no personal or professional obligations to Save the Children in Sri Lanka apart from their consultancy contract. The report is an independent document and will be shared as a public document with the relevant authorities. 23

CHAPTER 3 3.

Findings

3.1

Socio-economic situation of children

For the research we had selected girl children between the age group of 14-18. These girls were systematically sampled from lists which were drawn up from local school and Grama Seveka records. The table below gives the breakdown of the ages of those whom we interviewed.

Table 2 – Data frequencies by age

Age 14 15 16 17 18

Data frequencies - by age Cumulative Frequency Percentage Percentage 55 26.70 26.70 36 17.48 44.18 42 20.39 64.56 37 82.53 17.96 36 100.00 17.48

The following section gives a description of the socio-economic situation of the children who were interviewed. We do not in this report claim to make any correlations between the socio-economic situation and incidence of child sexual abuse. However, the general context in which the children lived, and their experiences of hardship and poverty raised many concerns about the overall well-being of children in Batticaloa.

3.2

Schooling

Table 3 - Children who dropped out of school in or before completing secondary school

Age in years 14 15 16 17 18

Married Not Married Household Household Size (6 or < 6) Size (> 6) 1 1 1 2 2 1 4 1 3 2 6 8 4 3 8 7 18 9 18 9 27

27 24

Table 4 - children who dropped out of school at or after sitting O/L Age in years 16 17 18

Married Not Married Household Household Size (6 or < 6) Size (> 6) 2 2 4 7 3 6 4 2 15

9

6

According to the data, most children who were interviewed were attending school. However, 42 children (20.3%) who we interviewed were not attending school or had dropped out, and all but one of these was 15 years or older. That means almost 3 out of every 10 (27%) of the interviewed children who were15 years or older were not going to school. Despite compulsory school attendence ending after age 14, this high percentage age of girls out of school is of concern. 27 (13.1%) children had dropped out of school before sitting GCE Ordinary Level exams and 15 (7.3%) children had dropped out after sitting the O/L. Out of the 27 who had dropped out of school early, 9 children were married and one child who was pregnant after being raped had also dropped out of school early (see also section below). 3.3

Early marriage and pregnancies

Nine children were married and six of them had already had a baby. One 18 year old was pregnant but not married (her story is discussed later on). Though this is a small number it does show the link between young marriages and young pregnancies. 4 of the girls had had their children when they were sixteen as soon as they were married. Globally it has been recognised that with early marriage young girls’ education is disrupted impacting on their options for work as well. There is also the additional health risk of premature sex and young pregnancies to both the girl and the baby. A UNICEF study noted the impact of early marriage as “the curtailment of personal freedom and the lack of opportunity to develop a full sense of selfhood” (Innocenti Digest, 2001 p.10) In Sri Lanka’s conflict context, it has also been common for young girls to be abandoned by their husbands and have to care for young babies on their own. In Sri Lanka the legal age of marriage is 18 (except under Muslim customary law). At least 7 of the 9 ‘marriages’ noted here were not legally valid. 3.4

Household size

36.9% of the children we interviewed lived in households which had seven or more than seven members in the family. That is, on average more than 3 out of every 10 children we interviewed came from families that had 5 or more children. 3.5

Household income

In most of the families (84%), the father was the main bread winner. It was also interesting that in 40% of the families there was someone abroad sending remittances. In 23.3% of the cases it was an older sibling. Only 6 children (2.9%) interviewed had a mother working abroad. In this research study we did not find a link between migrant mothers and child abuse. Only in one case was there a child who was at risk because her mother was thinking about migrating for work (see case study of Mallika below). 16% of the children we spoke to said that they only had two meals a day – usually dinner and left-over dinner for breakfast the following morning. In other words, one in every ten children ate newly cooked food only once a day as dinner. 83% of those interviewed stated that their family’s monthly income was less than 25

15,000/-. out of which 55.3% had a household monthly income less than 10,000/-.that is less than Rs. 300/- per day to meet all family expenses. 3.6

Household environment

40.8% of the children did not have toilets in their homes and used the surrounding areas or relations’ toilets. In other words, 4 out of every 10 children we spoke to did not have access to toilets in their own homes. 22.8% of those interviewed lived in temporary housing. That is, more than 2 in 10 children we spoke to lived in temporary housing. 43.3% of children we spoke to did not have access to their own well and used neighbouring common wells or wells in relations’ houses.

Key Findings 42 children (20.3%) who we interviewed were not attending school or had dropped out. ® More than 2 out of every 10 children of the age group of 15-18 who we interviewed were not going to school. ®

® 27 (13.1%) children had dropped out of school earlier than O/L. ® Out of the 27 who had dropped out of school early, 9 children

® ® ® ®

were married and 1 child who was pregnant after being raped had also dropped out of school early. 6 of them already had a baby. 4 of them had had a baby at 16 years. 65% of children who had dropped out of school came from large families with six or more than six members. More than 3 out of every 10 children we interviewed came from families that had 7 or more members.

® 55.3% had a household monthly income less than 10,000/- that

is less than 300/- per day to meet all family expenses. ® 40% of families depended on foreign remittances. ® Only 6 children (2.9%) interviewed had a mother abroad. ® More than 2 in 10 children we spoke to lived in temporary

housing

® 4 out of every 10 children we spoke to did not have access to

toilets in their own homes.

® 1 in every 10 children had only two meals a day – usually dinner

and left over dinner for breakfast

26

3.7 Child sexual abuse – findings Children shared their own stories as well as stories of what they had heard from friends and others. Sometimes one child in the group of five told the story of another child in the group. However, that child had not revealed anything to her own interviewer. In these instances, the follow up was done in a very sensitive and non invasive manner. Most of the serious cases were studied and followed up at field level where ever possible, and the rest of the cases were investigated and followed up at an institutional level. In total, 39 cases were followed up and also verified. A few of the children did not want anything done for the sake of upholding confidentiality. A few stories about third parties were mentioned by either two or three children and it was possible to meet the affected children themselves. These meetings were only a beginning - to get to know the situation, give them emotional support, to make them get on in life, and find a referral system through the organization for continued appropriate support for the girl, especially in the case of unwed mothers.

3.8

Rape and grave sexual abuse

The table below gives the main findings of the research in terms of both prevalence of child sexual abuse as well as other important issues related to sexual abuse. The prevalence rate for sexual abuse was 3.4% within the sample studied. In other words, in the populations studied, it can be estimated that in a group of 30 girls between the age of 14-18 there will be one child who has been raped or has faced grave sexual abuse. However, this research focused on 34 cases identified (These 34 included children who were mentioned by those who we directly interviewed from the sample) to highlight some of the social and psychological issues related to child sexual abuse that came up through the research. The prevelance rate of child sexual abuse incidents within the sample was 4.37. There were children who had multiple experiences of sexual abuse by different perpetrators. Within the sample we came accross one child who was raped, two children who were experiencing marital rape and four children who had experienced grave sexual abuse. Through the follow up process in addition to the 7 children from the sample, the research team met 2 children who were raped, and one child who had faced grave sexual abuse. The research team categorised the children’s stories as early marriage and rape within the marriage, rape, gang rape, multiple rapes (which documents a child who was abused by different men at different times), attempted rape, rape by armed forces, rape and murder and grave sexual abuse. We separated the number of incidents from the number of children as in one case the perpetrator had raped five children. In terms of the perpetrators and location of the incident, we separated those which happened within the household and those which happened within the community. Although we had initially decided to use the legal definition for incest, when analysing the cases we realised that this definition was limited and excluded certain types of sexual abuse. Therefore we decided to cluster incidents that took place within the home. For this research the importance was to highlight how the perpetrators were usually very close to the children and were people the children and their families would have trusted and cared for and even loved. The verification column shows how many children we directly interviewed, how many cases we were able to verify through other sources and how many cases we were not able to independently verify. 27

Table 5 – Incidents of rape and grave sexual abuse of sample (206)

Type Rape Marital rape within Grave sexual abuse

Total from sample Prevelence rate

Incidents Number of

Within

Within

brother’s friend 1

1

2

2

6

4

9 4.37

7

Husband cousin, elderly male relative, uncles

brother’s friend, men in guest house,

(2)

3.4 -

28

Table 6 – Incidents of rape and grave sexual abuse all cases mentioned in the research study.

Type

Incidents Number of Within housechildren hold

Marital rape within illegal marriage

2

Rape

14

2

20

Within Community

Verification

Husband (2)

Directly interviewed

Uncle, Grandfa- Principal, boy friend (2), ther(2), father (2), brother in law neighbour, brother’s friend (3), Cousin

4 directly interviewed through follow up process.

About relative, friend, other, and verified - 8

Gang rape

1

Two boys

1

Not met directly but verified through child protection network

Multiple rape/ sexual abuse

1

1

Attempted rape

1

1

Rape by armed forces

1

1

Rape and murder

3

3

Uncle

9

Uncles (3) Cousin (1)

Grave sexual abuse

11 (two children revealed two incidents)

34

38

unverified - 2 Verified through child protection network

Unknown

Reported by sister

Police man

Not met directly but verified through child protection network

Verified through media reports, in one case interviewed girl saw body Known men in theDirectly interviewed village (2), boys5 staying in lodge in colombo, brother’s friend, neighbour, close friend’s story, distant relative living close relative - 6 (not in the house, man liv- followed up) ing in the house Man, neighbour

16

29

18

Main findings ® The self reported prevalence rates of children subjected

to sexual abuse within the sample was 3.4%. In other words in a group of 30 girls between the age of 14-18 there would be one child who has been raped or has faced grave sexual abuse. The prevalence rate was calculated by giving a percentage of those children we interviewed who spoke of sexual abuse to themselves. Given the stigma and pain associated with sexual abuse, it is likely that the actual prevelence rate is somewhat higher. ® The Prevalence rates of child sexual abuse incidents within the sample was 4.37%. There were children who had multiple experiences of sexual abuse by different perpetrators. ® Within the sample we came accross 1 child who was

raped, 2 children who were experiencing marital rape, and 4 chilldren who had experienced grave sexual abuse. Through the follow up process, in addition to the 7 children from the sample, the research team met 2 children who were raped and 1 child who had faced grave sexual abuse. ® 16.5% children interviewed had either directly

experienced or new of someone (a family member or close friend) who had experienced sexual abuse. We documented 22 cases of rape of children and 1 case of attempted rape. We also documented 11 cases of grave sexual abuse. In other words more than 3 in 20 children interviewed had directly experienced or knew another child who had experienced sexual abuse. ® 27.7% children interviewed had either directly

experienced or knew of someone (a family member or close friend) who had experienced sexual harassment. In other words nearly 3 children out of 10 had directly experienced or knew someone (a family member or close friend) who had experienced sexual harassment.

In 47% of the cases of sexual abuse discussed in the research, the abuse had taken place within the child’s home. ®

As far as the research team could verify, in terms of the 23 cases of rape (including attempted rape and incest reported), 17 cases had been referred to the police. ®

30

Type of Sexual Abuse

Perpetrators

Husband Uncle

2

1

2

2

5

11

8 2

Grand father

E a r ly m a r ria g e a n d m a rita l ra p e

Father

R ape

Brother in Law

G a n g ra p e

Cousin

M u ltip le ra p e /s e x u a l a b u s e

Principal

A tte m p te d r a p e

14

R a p e a rm e d fo rc e s

Boy friend 2

Sexual Abuse (by location) 3

1

R a p e a n d m u rd e r

neighbour

G ra v e s e x u a l a b u s e

brother's friend

3 boy/man

1

3

1

2

1

2

1

1

Sexual Harassment - (by location) military

Distant relative in the house

Within home 47%

In neighbourhood 53% 31

Case Examples

RANJI 17 The following case illustrates the multiple levels of vulnerability that young girls faced. Ranji came from a family of five children. Her father had died and her mother was earning a daily income by selling cooked food. Their daily income was about 200/- and this was not enough for them to meet their household needs. There were six members living in their house. She had ‘married’ when she was 16, although this was not a legal marriage. Ranji’s story spoke of the most intimate and cruel form of violence still not recognised within Sri Lankan law – that of marital rape (in this case still an offense as non-consensual sexual intercourse outside legal marriage). “When I was 16 I went with a man (27) and lived with him in another village. That time it was like rape he was harassing me a lot. He was hitting me. Two months I lived with him (April 2008- June 2008). and then I finally left him. That man had other affairs also. For two months I had a terrible time. I thought marriage was love but there was no love with that man.”

In her frustration about her life she said ‘I don’t watch TV. I want to be alone’. She liked to read the bible. She hated to get married and hated all men. When the research team followed up with her, we found that her ‘husband’ and his brother had convinced her (and her family) that she should come back to him. She had gone back to him when we visited her. She did not want us to stay long. She did not want him to know that she had talked to us about him. She still lived in fear but tried to put up a good face to avoid further trouble.

RANI 16 Rani came from a family of six children. She had two older brothers and three younger sisters. They were very poor and lived in a two roomed house and did not have a toilet or well. Often they ate only two meals a day. Her mother was 33 at the time of this research study, which meant that when she first had children she was fifteen. Since Rani’s youngest sister was ten years old, this would have meant that her own mother would have been pregnant almost continuously without much of a gap. Rani was already ‘married’ at 15 to her cousin who was 16 and had no support from her mother to deal with her relationship with her very young husband. It was a forced marriage to her cousin. The 1st night he was cruel and she cried. Every night was terrible for her and she continued to live with hatred and now has a 6 month old baby. Even after the child, she was forced to have sex with him, now she is taking contraceptive tablets. Whenever he calls me I hate it and don’t want to go but I get scared if I don’t go he will create problems so I go with him. The impact of marital rape on this child was palpable. When the research team met her, her face showed tremendous stress and strain. She was seated bent throughout the session and her face revealed that she was going through terrible problems more than what was revealed. She took time to talk and was not free and definitely needed special help to understand what was happening to her and work through some options she might have to deal with the situation. MANJU 14 My best friend fell in love. He was 24 and she was 14 and he always took her to the jungle area. She also went with him and talked and came back. One day she came back quite distressed. She said he hugged and kissed her. She didn’t like it so she ran back. 32

Manju’s story illustrates the complexity around child sexual abuse. Often times its a person who the child knows and trusts and even loves, who takes advantage of the situation. Manju was very young (14) and the man was much older (24).

3.9

Incest

“Not all touches are the same” When uncle.....cuddled her it made Sarah feel warm and happy but when he touched her under her nightie it made her feel confused and embarrassed. Sarah somehow just knew that something wrong was happening” ( Bryant-Mole, 1993, p.7) “After a man was sentenced to death for raping his daughter (in the Philippines), his wife – the girl’s mother – turned and hissed at her own mother, ‘are you happy now that I lost my husband?’” (My name is Today Children in News Vol III No. 3 & 4 1995 Butterflies Programme of Street and Working Children New Delhi p.45) Incest unlike other forms of abuse, starts slowly. Normal hugging and cuddling changes into sexual fondling and this behaviour becomes confusing and frightening for the child. She also does not know how to avoid this behaviour and feels guilty about attracting such behaviour. Children also are very susceptible to threats and guilt (Parks, 1990). In the research study approximately half the cases of sexual abuse(47%) was within the family, and apart from a few cases even the others were of known persons such as neighbours, school principal and boy friends. The fact that children knew and trusted the perpetrators made the experience terrible for them. Sometimes children were blamed for such incidents and carried a lot of guilt.

RANJINI

Ranjini was sexually abused by her grand father on a daily basis. She did not tell anyone about this. Her grand father was a well known and respected man in the village. Her silence indicated that she could not accuse him because no one would have accepted that he was capable of such a thing. It also showed the emotional and psychological hold he would have had on her. In her mind she had blocked out what had happened and sometimes she herself believed that it was someone outside who came and raped her and that she didn’t know who it was.

33

The continuous abuse of the girl came to light when she became pregnant. Initially she said it was her boy friend, but later she revealed that it was her grand father. The story she was taught to tell everyone was that someone came to the house when she was alone put something on her face and raped her after she fainted. Therefore she didn’t know who it was. Later she revealed that when she was alone he used her. Her own mother had gone abroad for work and had died there. She had no father and no one else was with her in her grand parents’ house. This happened two years ago. The girl was taken by the probation services and after the court case she was sent to Snehatheepam. She was cared for and counselled. The child was born and given for adoption. It was proved that it was the grand father once the DNA test results came. When the police went to arrest him he committed suicide. When the research team met the girl she was extremely sad and was contemplating suicide. People in the village were harassing her and calling her names (prostitute) and cursing her. Her grand mother also ill treated her. She blamed the girl that the grandfather died because of her bad behaviour. After the meeting the child had decided to persue vocational training. PPDRO was tasked with looking into the matter and the facilitator was to continue supporting the girl.

RENU 17 “My aunt and uncle lived close by. I liked them a lot. I was seven years old. One day when my aunty was not there and I was alone with my uncle he pulled me towards him and hugged and kissed me. My uncle is a good man. My aunt and uncle cared about me a lot and that’s why they used to ask me to come to their house and stay with them. This happened two or three times. After these incidents I refused to go to that house. I haven’t talked about these things with anyone. I only spoke to my closest friend. I hate men and I can’t trust any man.”

VIJAYA 15 “when I was 8 years old, my parents were getting ready to go to the town. At that time one of my grandfather (distant elderly male relative - 48 years) was also staying with us. He encouraged my parents to take my sister with them. I said I will come with them too but they took only my sister with them. He then sent my younger brother and younger sister to the shop and my grandfather (father’s father) was sitting near the entrance. I was doing some work inside the room, he [distant relative] came and touched my private body parts. I quickly pushed him, ran away and sat next to my grandfather. I told my parents about this and they scolded him and asked him to leave.” In the case of some of the children we followed up on, there had been on going abuse. They had mixed feelings of anger, on going guilt, and low self worth. There was intense shame about the experience though they were not responsible for the adults’ behaviour. As the above story illustrates the man had been thinking about the child in a sexual way for sometime and had carefully planned the situation so he could have her alone. One unwed mother believed that the man who made her pregnant would come back to her as soon as the child was born and it was established that the child was his. He already was living with another woman and 34

denied that he was the father. Anxiety and fears of continued blame made children contemplate suicide. Blaming the child and not the abuser was another problem the child faced long after the incident. Ainscough & Toon (1993) discussed four possible impacts of child sexual abuse. Firstly, when children are exposed to prolonged abuse they develop traumatic sexualisation because they are frightened, hurt and confused about what is happening to them. Also when abuse continues children feel guilty because sometimes they develop feelings towards the abuser and may enjoy the encounters. In this research we met two girls who had fallen in love with the men after sometime and were pregnant, and were sure that the men would marry them once the paternity of the child was proved. Stigmatization was one of the huge burdens that children had to carry after being abused. The abuser blamed the child for the abuse and frightened the child into silence. This lead to children cutting themselves away from other social relationships and isolating themselves. Sometimes the abuser told the child that it was her own fault because she looked like her mother, she had to be punished for something she did wrong, or that she had dressed in an inviting way. Sometimes there was emotional control of the child by threatening the child’s family and saying if the child told anyone it would destroy the family (Ainscough & Toon, 1993). Especially in incest, the betrayal and breaking of trust by someone the child cared about had had a tremendous impact on the child. According to Ainscough and Toon (1993) abusers usually built up a trusting relationship with the child making the child feel wanted and loved. They manipulated his/her trust and vulnerability (see Kavitha’s story below). As some of the children we spoke to stated, they felt they couldn’t trust any man ever again and they didn’t want to get married. Finally children experienced powerlessness and felt a sense of invasion of their bodies and minds. Children often tried to avoid the situation on their own, or tried to stop the abuse from happening. But often the abuser was much cleverer than they were or they couldn’t get out of the situation as their own families didn’t believe them.

MALLIKA 14

“I don’t get to eat often. My mother goes abroad to make money. We are slowly building our house. Now the house is on mortgage. Mother also has lots of loans. I find it hard to study now, what ever I learn I forget in no time and I am very worried. My mother is planning to go abroad again. She is going to leave me with my aunty (mother’s brother’s wife). I am very frightened to go there because my aunt’s son touches me and squeezes my breasts. When I told my mother about my cousin she ignored me, sometimes she says he is my marriageable cousin so its ok, but I hate him and don’t want to go there.”

35

3.10 Sexual Harassment Table 6 – Sexual Harassment

Direct or to a friend 10

Sexual harassment in school by boys Sexual harassment in school by teachers

2

Sexual harassment in transport Sexual harassment in public places (roads, temples, shops outside tuition classes) Sexual harassment through mobile phone Sexual harassment at home/relatives home Military

6 4 1

Total

36

8 26

57

Type of Sexual Harassment Sexual Harassment

School seemed to be a common location where girls experienced sexual harassment (21%). The team felt that in many of these cases young adolescent boys did not know how to relate to young girls in a respectful and equal way. The team felt that this could be due to lack of positive role models and spaces to discuss issues of growing up in a sensible and supportive manner. As the above data suggests on average 1 out of 5 girls who experienced sexual harassment went through this experience within their own school. The more serious incidents discussed were in relation to teachers. “last December after I did my term exam and I was leaving for home, one of my friends told me that I left my exercise book in a classroom. So I went to get that book. At that time two school masters were talking and one of them (Primary master) told me that there were some exam papers and asked me to collect them. I said ok and while I was collecting those papers the master also came there and sat next to me and with his leg tapped (urasuthal) my leg. I said I am going home and went away from that place.” “Boys tease and bully me and my friends. When they talk to us girls they never look at the face, but they always look at the breasts. I don’t like that.” “There is a boy who bothers me in school pulls my books and my hair and teases her. Sometimes he quarrels with me. Once he hit me and that time he tried to touch my breasts also. Once he saw me shopping with my mother and I was wearing three quarter trousers he teased me then and also came back to the school and told all the other boys who also teased me. He is with a bad group. They wear coconut shells as breasts and walk around in the school. These boys also watch blue films. They have bad pictures which they bring to school and share. They use bad language on the teachers and students. Teachers just ignore and go. My school is a useless school. “ In one school in particular girls were also frustrated that no action was taken by the teachers to curb the actions of young boys that created sexual annoyance. Overall there was a need for youth leadership 37

workshops within schools to provide a space to discuss concerns related to young girls and boys becoming responsible adults in the coming years. In fact almost all the children interviewed mentioned that the short film used for this research should be shown to other girls and boys and that this would be very useful. Another common form of sexual harassment was from boys who liked particular girls in a romantic way. Here too, the data suggested that boys did not know how to interact and relate to girls without making a sexual nuisance of themselves. “A boy (I went to the children’s club meetings with him, I know him and played with him as well) said he loves me and asked my interest. Daily he follows me, asking me to kiss him and invited me to his home. He puts my pen in his pocket and asks me to take it. He gave me chocolate I didn’t eat I gave it to my mother and mother threw it away.” “My cousin sister is having an affair with a boy from five years ago (now he is in Ratnapura). Parents got to know this and brought her to my home. My brother loved her but she refused him. During kovil festival it got a little late and my cousin sister came with my brother. On the way my brother forcefully hugged, kissed and touched her breasts. She had a wound in her mouth. She is very frightened now because he said he will kill her and kill himself if she doesn’t agree to be with him.” These forms of sexual harassment have an impact on young girls’ mobility and ability to participate in school and social life fully. Many girls stop schooling for some days if not totally; stop attending tuition classes; some stop going anywhere unless they are accompanied by someone. In a few cases, the girl was taken out of the school and moved to another school by the parents. Using mobile phones emerged as a new form of sexual harassment which was expressed by girls as a deep feeling of violation of one’s dignity and sense of being. The fact that a mobile phone can capture their image and they had no control over this process and what happened to these pictures afterwards was a big worry. “When I went to my grandmother’s funeral I stayed there for 2 months. My uncle said he loves me and asked my interest and he took my photo from his phone. He threatened saying that if I tell someone he will publish my photo on the internet.” “Class boys take photographs of me and my friends and give those photos and contact numbers to their friends and then these boys call us.” “School boys took my friend’s photo in the camera phone and put the photo in the computer (school computer room) and watched her photo in a naked way.” 3.11 Young girls dealing with the challenges of early sexual relationships and social stigma Marrying after abuse The following table gives 13 incidents where girls who had got pregnant or had had sexual relationships outside marriage had faced different problems in their communities. There were two cases where the girls were married off to the boys after becoming pregnant within consensual relationships. These girls were aged 15 and under Sri Lankan law this qualifies as statutory rape. In another case it was reported that a girl (16) who was raped by her boy friend was then married off to him to avoid social stigma, we were not able to follow up with the girl to verify this incident due to issues of confidentiality. 38

Young mothers Two girls were now young single mothers after being abandoned by men and were trying to manage new social situations. We also followed up the case of a young girl who was pregnant after being raped -

KAMALA 18 There are 7 in my family. I have another younger sister (15 years) who is also married. My brother’s friend used to come and stay in our house (we sleep in one room). One day when I was sleeping I felt someone pressing me and when I tried to shout, he closed my mouth by his hand and threatened that he will commit suicide if I tell someone. This happened several times. Then I fell in love with him and now I am 8 months pregnant. When the research team met her she looked lean and her face was a bit drawn. Since she had no means to look after herself an aunt was providing meals and meeting her other material needs. She still believed that after the DNA test and after the birth of the child the man will be back to marry her. Meanwhile the man was living with another woman who was also six months pregnant. Her future looked bleak – in the conversation she revealed that with her low education she will not be able to do work in any capacity other than go for hard physical labour.

39

Suicides Two girls who were living with men and were pregnant later committed suicide because the men had left them and they would have faced a lot of shame and social stigma. There were a further three suicides which were mentioned by the children who were interviewed, of young girls who had been through failed relationships. Table 7 – young girls dealing with relationships Age Description of Pregnancy relationship 15 Failed love affair ‘married’ and had Suicide baby Attempted suicide 16 Failed love affair Suicide - Failed love affair Pregnant

Outcome Man wanted to marry someone else so she committed suicide Attempted suicide Boy left her she committed suicide

Suicide

16 Love affair

Suicide

15 Failed love affair

Abandoned

17 Love affair

Pregnant

Abandoned

15 Had affair

Had baby

Boy left her

Married off after pregnancy

15

Got pregnant

Said particular boy was father and he was made to marry her – (interviewed girl’s brother)

Married off after pregnancy Ran away with boy Had sexual relationship with boy Married after rape

15 Had affair

Got pregnant

Parents married them

Relationship

14

Parents against so she committed suicide Committed suicide

Love affair

married to him

15 Failed Love affair Rape by boy16 friend 17 Had affair with Got pregnant married man & ran away

dropped out of school - village talk is that she is pregnant and that she had sex with many boys

Parents brought her back, arranged abortion, arranging another marrage.

(The above cases were reported by the children interviewed about their friends and since it was beyond the main scope of the research we did not follow up on them. However, these cases illustrate important gendered experiences of young girls). The long term impact on young unwed mothers is also transfered to their child. We met one girl who was born outside of marriage and was then adopted by her aunt – her mother’s younger sister. They cared for her and looked after her needs and she was happy with them. Her mother’s elder sister, however, often scolded her and called her names. Recently she had heard that her mother who gave her away was now married to another man and was settled. She did not know her father. The girl was getting chest pains often thinking of these things. 40

“I was adopted by this present parents. Parents did not say anything to me, but neighbours and others all around me tease me saying that I am adopted. Whatever I do, everyone teases me by telling that I am an adopted child. If I speak with a boy everyone will say that your mother was like this and you are also following in the same steps.” 3.12

Children at risk - Children mentally disabled

The research team came across three cases of rape where the girl was mentally disabled. This report draws attention to these three cases because they highlight the abuse of a specially vulnerable group. According to the 1995 Penal Code Amendments, women with mental disabilities were recognised as a specially vulnerable group with enhanced sentencing of ten years rigorous imprisonment. From these three cases, we were able to directly trace and meet one girl and verify the story of the second. However, the third child we were unable to meet as the girl who told us the story did not want us to follow up on the case. The research team, however, informed the local community workers in the area to look into the case directly. These cases indicate that mentally disabled children were vulnerable to abuse and there could be many more.

KAVITHA 18 A young girl was used for sex by a man(27) who was already married, by promising her he will marry her. He lived close by and one day when no one was in the house he took the girl to a lonely temple and raped her. When she described the situation she said she was frightened and she tried to scream but he closed her mouth and raped her. He also told her not to tell anyone and threatened her and her family. So she kept it a secret. After this he used to take her regularly into the jungle. She then got pregnant. Her mental development seemed a little slow. When the research team met her she was living with her sister who was married. She didn’t seem able to look after herself. She needed care and did not understand how to manage life. The police then came and arrested the man. She was waiting to deliver the baby when the team met her. She didn’t communicate with anyone. She sat by herself the whole day. She didn’t get involved in house work. So her sister was very worried about her. She told the counsellor that at the beginning she didn’t like him and was scared, but that later he was very nice to her and she started to like him and she went with him when he called.

JEEVA 12

One of the girls interviewed for this research study saw a neighbourhood girl Jeeva (12) having a sexual relationship with a man (married and separated). Jeeva had not even attained age and was mentally disabled. The girl who we interviewed had gone over to the neighbour’s house to call her friend (Jeeva). When she got there she saw her friend naked with a man from the neighbourhood. She had screamed and run back and told her mother. Her mother however had threatened her and said not to tell anyone about this.

41

3.13

Physical violence and domestic violence

Table 8 – physical and domestic violence S.No

Age

1

16

2

unknown

3 4

18

5 6

Violence perpetrated by Regular beatings by father Step father

She runs away from her home regularly because of the beatings

Husband

Beats her sometimes

unknown

Father

Drinks and beats his children

unknown 12

Father Step mother

She ran away to her older sister’s house

Even though this research focussed mainly on sexual abuse we also documented cases where children spoke about physical violence to them, as well as domestic violence in their homes. In 4 of the cases, the interviewed child spoke of her friend’s situation and since this was out of the scope of the research we did not follow up with the friend. However, when physical violence was mentioned directly by the child who was interviewed, we followed up with a home visit. The other cases, we referred these to the local child rights worker of the partner organisation to follow up.

MENAKA 16 Menaka came from a very poor family. She had dropped out of school because it was difficult for her to manage her studies. She had seven other siblings of which four of them were younger than her. Her mother was 40 years old and her oldest brother was 25. Therefore her mother would have been only fifteen when she had her first child. Between the age of 15-35 her mother had eight children, therefore she would have been pregnant every other year for two decades. They lived in a temporary mud hut and her father was a daily labourer and one brother sent money from Colombo. They didn’t have a toilet or their own well. They used a common well near by. Often they only had two meals a day – breakfast and dinner. Her father and older brother drank heavily. She was very upset because when her father drank he beat her regularly.

PRABHA 18 Prabha was married and had a 4 month old baby. Her father was dead. She had one brother and three sisters, one was abroad and the two younger ones were not going to school. Her youngest sister (9) did not have a birth certificate, possibly because she was born after her father’s death. They didn’t have a toilet or well and often only had one meal a day. She said “my husband hits me occasionally and after sometime he will come and speak to me.”

42

SITA “My father is an English teacher. But he drinks so my parents often live separately. If father drinks sometimes he will sleep without any cloths this upsets me a lot.” When the team met Sita, she was not going to school regularly, she stayed at other friends’ or neighbours’ homes instead of going to school. When the research team visited the family we noted that the child was lonely, disturbed and frustrated. She had lost all self esteem and was feeling miserable about living in that house. The mother shared openly about the domestic violence. Later the father came in and had a chat, he seemed willing to get help. Apart from the above domestic violence cases we also came across one case where seven boys who were in a boys hostel ran away after being severely beaten in the hostel. They were taken to the hostel because allegedly their parents were alcoholics. When we followed up this case we were able to verify that one boy actually had his leg broken due to the beating and the Probation and Child Care Services were following the case. 3.14

What strategies children used for protection

When analysing the steps children had taken when they faced abuse we documented the following strategies Out of the 23 cases of rape (including incest), 16 cases went to the Police. In 8 cases, the family or community took some action – in two cases the man was killed by the villagers, in another case the man was very badly beaten up by the villagers. In two cases the perpetrators committed suicide, once the case became public. It was only in 6 cases out of the 23 that no legal action was taken or no support offered to the child by child protection systems. It was heartening to note that in most of the cases there had been some response from child protection systems in the district. There was immediate support for the child and legal processes were initiated. In other cases also there had been some response from other service providers in the short term. However one of the main issues we wanted to raise in this study was the long term impact and support to children who have been sexually abused. As the case below illustrates children faced much guilt and blame from their own families and communities and they needed support and strength to deal with life after facing the abuse. It was sad to note that in situations of grave sexual abuse, there was silence surrounding the incidents. Out of the 11 cases of grave sexual abuse only one case was reported to the police. In all the cases the children ran away from the place and avoided being alone with the person again. In 4 cases, the children had only disclosed what happened to their closest friend and were afraid to tell anyone else. In six cases, the children had told their parents or another family member. In some of the cases the parents had spoken to the perpetrator, but in two of the cases, the mothers didn’t believe the child.

PREMA 14 Prema was raped by her brother in law. When she became pregnant she first said that it was a boy (bus conductor) who raped her. But later it was revealed that she was abused by her brother in law who had then run away. Now her son is 3 years and girl’s mother is looking after the child and the girl. However her mother hits her and ill-treats her. She came to Snehatheepam again with the child because she couldn’t bear her mother’s abuse. The child definitely needs follow up support. 43

CHAPTER 4 Recommendations Responsibilities of community based child protection organisations In many of these cases what was needed was psychosocial support at the root level for the children and the family members who were caring for them. This research study noted that even though there was a quick response and support initially, there was no support for the children in the long term once they returned home. Children faced a lot of blame, guilt and shame when they returned home, and sometimes had to drop out of school. Therefore local support systems should be more active in the process of healing and integration of these children. Sexuality and life skills workshops Sexual problems cannot be dealt with in isolation. Sexual problems are closely tied up with people’s physical and emotional state of being. People need relationships that promote self worth and positive body image. There needs to be general programmes organised with teenage children about leadership, their changing biological and social roles, sexuality, how to have healthy and respectful relationships between girls and boys, to provide alternatives to sexual harassment and sometimes grave sexual abuse. Therefore with this research report the team will have meetings with the partner organisations to share findings, discuss follow up and possible future programmes at the community level to deal with some of the general issues such as sexual harassment.

Special workshops with schools One of the findings of this report was that girls found school as a place where they faced much sexual harassment and sometimes abuse. Having a programme within schools would be useful to make school a safe space for children. Stress management with young boys and individual attention for boys and girls to help them clarify their needs and hopes for the future is another recomendation made by this report. There are already developed manuals that would be useful in designing such programmes in a sensitive and effective way, for example Doorways 1 Student Training Manual on School-related Gender Based Violence Prevention and Response (2009), USAID. There should be strengthening of a child to child protection approach so that young children are aware of such risks. As mentioned earlier, almost all the children appreciated the video and asked for the video to be shown in their schools and communities. Another important finding was that, specially in relation to grave sexual abuse children told only their closest friends, therefore some awareness about these issues and what to do in such circumstances would be useful for children. It would be very important for children to know that when such incidents happened it was never their fault. Cultural stigma was another big problem that children faced. Sometimes to avoid social shame the girl was married off to the perpetrator. Children were marginalised by other children and sometimes the worst cruelty came from within the family. Generally there needs to be much work done on promoting children’s schooling – especially girl children’s schooling to reduce school drop out rates, as well as changing attitudes on early marriage. 44

Children who have faced abuse need support to cope with anxiety and fears using simple support that community based child supporters could teach them. Some useful skills for community workers to know and teach children would be related to breathing, exercising, yoga, and meditation so that they can sleep better and cope with moments of fear and anxiety. Coordination This research study highlighted the fact that there was a good coordination and response system between the different child protection units in the Batticaloa district. There was close collaboration between the District Secretariat of the NCPA, Snehatheepam, Police and the Department of Probation and Child Care. As stated earlier, accept in six cases, all other sexual abuse cases had had a response from the child protection network. Therefore the initial response was supportive to the child. Another positive finding was that most of the children who had faced abuse were placed back in the community under the care of a family member and not institutionalized as was the practice in other districts. However, there were some shortcomings regarding this process. There was no effective and comprehensive support for the child in the long term within the community setting to enable them to heal and integrate back into the community. Sexual problems cannot be dealt with in isolation. The networking among organizations was weak and there was no strong system in place for mutual support in the long term community support process. There were also some cases where domestic violence was related to alcohol abuse. Therefore setting up an alcohol support group such as Alcoholics Anonymous would be immensely beneficial to improve relationships specially among parents and children.

Conclusion Nearly 1 out of every 30 girls between 14 and 18 years whom we interviewed reported personally experiencing rape or grave sexual abuse. At least 3 out of every 20 girls interviewed reported either a direct experience or knew another girl who been subjected to rape or grave sexual abuse. Nearly 3 out of every 10 girls reported having been subjected to sexual harrassment personally or knowing another girl who had. Girls are unsafe and insecure in the communities covered by the study, and particularly in their homes, neighbourhoods and schools. Considerable work is needed to protect girls from these risks. Whilst child protection mechanisms actively and positively engage most cases of sexual abuse, unfortunately these services have an only a short-term impact. The psychological and social consequences of sexual violence have been shown to be profound and often long-lasting. Support to deal with these difficulties is completely inadequate at present, and consistent investment is needed to develop quality services that are capable of assisting children appropriately. The methodology developed for this study proved to be an effective means of assessing the prevalance of child sexual abuse of adolescent girls, although it is clear that some participants were not able to disclose their experiences. Nevertheless, the methodology was felt to be relatively sensitive and also ethically sound in terms of its commitment to providing adequate follow-up and ongoing support within a framework of consent and confidentiality. The moral and practical complexities of research in this area, however, underline the need for caution and care in undertaking future studies.

45

Bibliography Ainscough, Carolyn & Toon, Kay (1993), Breaking Free: Help for Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse, Sheldon Press, London UK Bhasin, Kamla & Thapar, Bindia (2003), If only someone had broken the silence! Sexual violence on children, Sangat and Jagori New Delhi. Bryant-Mole, Karen (1993), What’s Happening? Child Abuse, Wayland Publishers ltd, UK ESCAPE (200?) Good Touches and Bad Touches [video], Sri Lanka. Handbook on Child Abuse (1999), Department of Police, United Nations Children’s Fund and Redd Barna, Colombo Innocenti Digest (2001), Early Marriage Child Spouses, No. 7 March 2001, UNICEF Italy LHRD (2003) Violation of Child Rights in the Implementation of the Law Relating to Statutory Rape, Lawyers for Human Rights and Development, Colombo. My name is Today Children in News Vol III No. 3 & 4 (1995) Butterflies Programme of Street and Working Children New Delhi p.45) National Child Protection Authority – District Secretariat Annual Report (2008) Batticaloa District LHRD (2002), Orientation Manual on Law Relating to Child Abuse and Child Labour, Lawyers for Human Rights and Development, Colombo. Parks, Penny (1990), Rescuing the ‘Inner Child’ Therapy for Adults Sexually Abused as Children, Human Horizons Series, A Condor Book, Souvenir Press (E&A)ltd London UK

Program on Forced Migration and Health (2008) Sexual Abuse of Children in Sri Lanka: Brief Summary of Phase Two of the Neighborhood Method Research. Unpublished report.

46

APPENDIX I: DATA TABLES

Data Frequencies - age groups Age groups Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 26.7 55 26.7 26.7 12-14 years Valid 14-16 years 17-19 years

78 73

37.9

37.9

64.6

35.4

100.0

Total

206

100.0

35.4 100.0

Data Frequencies - Schooling Schooling Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 77.2 77.2 77.2 159 79 8.3 8.3 85.4

Yes No Valid

Dropout

19

9.2

9.2

94.7

No response

11

5.3 100.0

5.3 100.0

100.0

Total

206

Data Frequencies - Marital Status Marital Status Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 3.9 3.9 3.9 8 198 96.1 96.1 100.0

Yes No Valid

Total

206

100.0

100.0

Data Frequencies - having / not having children Children Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 3.4 3.4 3.4 7 199 96.6 100.0

Yes No Valid

Total

206

100.0 96.6

100.0

47

Data Frequencies - Mother’s age

Mother’s age Frequency Percent Dead No response, Separated

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

38

18.4

18.4

18.4

31 - 40 Years

1 39

.5 18.9

.5 18.9

18.9 37.9

Valid 41 - 50 Years

91

44.2

44.2

82.0

51 - 60 Years

32

15.5

15.5

97.6

61 and above

5

2.4

2.4

100.0

206

100.0

100.0

21 - 30 Years

Total

Data Frequencies - Number of family members

Number of family Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 2.4 2.4 1 - 3Members 2.4 5 60.7 60.7 63.1 4 - 6Members 125 Valid 7 - 9Members 69 96.6 33.5 33.5 10 and above Total

7 206

3.4 100.0

3.4 100.0

100.0

Data Frequencies - Bread winner

Earning

Father Mother Valid Other No response Total

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 84.0 84.0 84.0 173 13 6.3 6.3 90.3 15 97.6 7.3 7.3 5 206

2.4 100.0

2.4 100.0 48

100.0

Data Frequencies - Parent abroad Family member abroad on work Frequency Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Mother

6

2.9

2.9

2.9

Father

17

8.3

8.3

11.2

Valid Sibling

48

23.3

23.3

34.5

Other

11

5.3

5.3

39.8

None

124

60.2

60.2

100.0

206

100.0

100.0

Total

Data Frequencies - House type

House Type Frequency Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Temporary

47

22.8

22.8

22.8

Two rooms

126

61.2

61.2

84.0

16

7.8

7.8

91.7

NGO provide

17

8.3

8.3

100.0

Total

206

100.0

100.0

Valid 3 rooms

Data Frequencies - Availability of a Well

WELL Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 56.8 56.8 56.8 117 89 43.2 43.2 100.0

Yes No Valid

Total

206

100.0

100.0

49

APPENDIX II: INTERVIEW GUIDE

>>>>> -My name is ____________

and I work with Save the Children

- WHAT IS YOUR AGE? -Our Talk will be: - CONFIDENTIAL (However if we feel that you may like to have some help we can discuss about how we can help you and put you in touch with others who can help you) - VOLUNTARY - YOU CAN STOP AT ANY TIME - WILL HELP SAVE THE CHILDREN IMPROVE PROGRAMING -ask: 1. DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? 2. DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT WE ARE DOING? 3. DO YOU UNDERSTAND YOU CAN STOP AT ANY TIME? 4. ARE YOU WILLING TO SPEAK WITH ME? (Sign data form AFTER if yes)

>

1. How long have you lived in this community?

> IF NOT MENTIONED: Do you go to school? What is your marital status? Do you have children? Who else lives with you in your household?

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Rough income Anyone abroad Who is earning Married (in if possible per remitting money Who lives in Number and what do Age/s relation to other day or and what kind of your house? of they do? relatives) month? work? Mother Father Son Daughter

Mother

Brothers Sisters Cousins (girls or boys specify) Aunts Uncles Grand mother Grand father Other

Whar is your house like? (wattle and daub/ brick/ temporary shelter/other) Do you have a toilet? ….....................Well? How do you go to school? How many meals do you usually have a day? Do you think your family have enough money to meet your food needs/ other material needs/ educational needs? (Ask for examples and a little description) Are you working? What do you do? How much do you earn? What to do you with the money?

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1. What did you think of the video we watched today? 2. Are these things you have ever thought about before? 3. In the video, we saw some examples of good touches (holding hands with friends, helping a friend when she has fallen). Can you think of some other examples of good touches that you or other young people here in this community have experienced? 4. In the video, we saw some examples of bad touches (a girl pulling her friend’s hair, a boy pushing his friend off the swing). Can you think of some examples of bad touches that you or other young people here in this community have experienced? > (please ask gently for specific details on when it happened, where, how many times and why they think it happend) 5. Other Children in HH/Siblings IF YES: 1. who did it? 2. Did they tell anyone? 3. Did anything happen as a result? 4. When did it happen? Have they been asked to watch bad films/ or watch ‘adult things’ happening at home or in someone else’s house? PROBE TO DETERMINE WHETHER INCIDENT WAS RAPE > Has anyone else tried to touch him/her or made him/her touch them in a way they did not want or like? > IF YES: 1. who did it? 2. Did they tell anyone? 3. Did anything happen as a result? 4. When did this happen? Are you worried about any of your friends being in danger? Why?

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PROBE TO DETERMINE WHETHER INCIDENT WAS RAPE 6. Interviewee: I KNOW IT IS DIFFICULT TO TALK ABOUT THESE THINGS. THIS IS CONFIDENTIAL. What about for you? Has anyone ever touched you in a way you did not like or want? Has anyone ever made you touch them in a way you did not want or like? (please ask gently for specific details on when it happened, where, how many times and why they think it happend) (this needs to be expanded to include other things mensioned in the penal code just as a check list) > IF YES: 1. who did it? 2. Did they tell anyone? 3. Did anything happen as a result? 4. When did this happen? Have they been asked to watch bad films/ or watch ‘adult things’ happening at home or in someone else’s house? PROBE TO DETERMINE WHETHER INCIDENT WAS RAPE > Has anyone else tried to touch you or made you touch them in a way you did not like or want? > IF YES: 1. who did it? 2. Did they tell anyone? 3. Did anything happen as a result? 4. When did this happen? PROBE TO DETERMINE WHETHER INCIDENT WAS RAPE Are you worried about your safety or the safety of your siblings? Why?

>>> How would you help a friend/ or sibling if you something happened? Or if you are worried that there is a possibility that something may happen to them? 13. For children or young people who have experienced these problems, what do you think might help them cope? - THANK YOU FOR TALKING TO ME. I HAVE FINISHED MY QUESTIONS. - EVERYTHING YOU HAVE TOLD ME IS CONFIDENTIAL - THIS INFORMATION WILL HELP US IMPROVE SAVE THE CHILDREN’S PROGRAMS. - GIVE INFORMATION ABOUT SERVICES AVAILABLE IN THE AREA. GIVE SAVE THE CHILDREN CONTACT’S PHONE NUMBER. - DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS?

- THANK YOU. GOOD BYE.

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