The Hon. (Mrs.) Saroja Savithri Paulraj - Minister of Women and Child Affairs
The Minister provided data on complaints of sexual harassment and related offences against women in government institutions, stating that no complaints were recorded by the National Committee on Women’s Complaints Centre or the 1938 Women’s Help Line from 2015 to 2021, while nine complaints were recorded through those channels from 2022 to 2025. She said further police data from 2015 to March 2025 and action taken reports had been submitted as annexes to the Library. She outlined ongoing measures, including awareness programmes on laws, redress mechanisms and the 1938 Help Line, and training and sensitization programmes for police, public officers and officials working with women and children, with participation figures for 2023 to early 2025.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, the answer is as follows.
¶ 02 (a) (i) To the National Committee on Women’s Complaints Centre and the Women’s Help Line 1938 under this Ministry, no such complaints were reported from 2015 to 2021. From 2022 onwards, the numbers reported to the NCW Complaints Centre and to 1938 are:
¶ 03 - 2022: Complaints Centre 03; 1938 Help Line 02 - 2023: Complaints Centre 01; 1938 Help Line 01 - 2025 (to date): Complaints Centre 01; 1938 Help Line 01
¶ 04 Additionally, complaints regarding sexual and other criminal acts against women serving in government institutions reported to the Children and Women Bureau of Sri Lanka Police from 2015 to 10.03.2025 are submitted as Annex 01.
¶ 05 (ii) For 2022–2025, five complaints to the NCW Complaints Centre and four to the 1938 Help Line have been received regarding sexual harassment in workplaces (government institutions). Detailed reports on actions taken are submitted as Annex 02. Actions taken on Police-reported complaints appear in tabular form in Annex 01. Annexes 01 and 02 are placed in the Library.
¶ 06 (iii) Measures include awareness on laws and procedures related to violence against women (including the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act), sensitizing officials on the right to seek redress, awareness on the 1938 Help Line, and coordinated action with law-enforcement and justice sector institutions. Through District and Divisional Secretariats’ Women and Child units, the National Committee on Women implements annual programmes nationwide, including: - Sensitization for Officers-in-Charge of Police Stations and CWCs on women’s issues; - Awareness and attitude-change programmes for public officers to prevent gender-based violence; - Workplace GBV prevention awareness for officials; - Training for officers working with women/children on prevention and response.
¶ 07 Participation since 2023: - 2023: 4 programmes; 417 officers - 2024: 11 programmes; 980 officers - 2025 Jan: 5 programmes; 620 officers
¶ 08 Sri Lanka Police Children and Women Bureau has also conducted awareness for state institutions: - 2023: 2,442 programmes; 175,255 officers - 2024: 2,083 programmes; 161,812 officers - 2025 Jan: 186 programmes; 19,784 officers - 2025 Feb: 148 programmes; 16,954 officers
¶ 09 (b) Not applicable.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Thursday, 10 April 2025 ·No. 1747999742032122 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. (Mrs.) Saroja Savithri Paulraj - Minister of Women and Child Affairs. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 10 April 2025. No. 1747999742032122. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/11266