The 16 days of Activism Against Violence Against Women, begins on the 25th of November and ends on the 10th of December, on International Human Rights Day. These 16 days of activism was created to raise our voices to end violence against women and human rights violations. For more than 20 years women activists have been speaking out to end violence against women. November 30th is South Asian Women’s Day dedicated for peace, justice, human rights and democracy. We strongly state that, this continuous violence in the country leads to the destruction of social development and we are now living through a critical moment.
“We demand that freedom from violence should be a fundamental right, and that the #ExecutivePresidency should be abolished” Women’s Coalition for Disaster Management. Women march in Batticaloa town calling for an end to violence, from the domestic to the parliament #LKI #couplk pic.twitter.com/L0pmLJXMmQ
— Pplsmov4jd (@pplsmov4jd) November 30, 2018
There has been much outrage about the current political and constitutional crisis in the country, which affects also women such as us; where Parliamentary Ministers and Members of Parliament have perpetrated violence; including attacking each other with knives and chili powder. We have seen many voices raised in shock against this behavior. At the same time, women and girls face worse violence in the home on the street, in the school, in the work place, as migrant workers, in the bus, on the way to the shop, every single day. We want to strongly highlight our everyday experiences in this context.
It has become absolutely clear that this kind of violence in the home and in our parliament is a manifestation of the ‘strong man’ power.
To ensure that this violent culture is brought to an end, we voted for change in 2015. And in 2016, we demanded that freedom from violence should be a fundamental right, and that the executive presidency should be abolished in the new constitution.
As citizens of this country we strongly state —
1. We will ALL take responsibility to end violence in the home and community
2. We will NOT vote for those who perpetuate violence in their homes or in any political structures
3. We want our new constitution that we have been asking for
4. We want democratic values and human rights ensured
5. And we strongly reject ‘strong man’ power and violence in our country or in our homes
6. We want a culture of equality and freedom from violence
“From the hearth to the political stage we don’t want a culture of authoritarian violence”
We need a home and a community free of violence.