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Women Claiming Rights:Using normative frameworks of UNSCR 1325 & CEDAW

Study on Women Affected by Conflict in Post War Sri Lanka:

Selected cases of Marginalisation and Poverty; Female Headed Households;Female Ex-combatants; Land Rights and Domestic Violence

Women and Media CollectiveSuriya Womens Development Centre

Viluthu Centre for Human Resource DevelopmentHome for Human RightsRajarata Praja Kendraya

Muslim Womens Research and Action Forum

vWomen Claiming Rights: Using normative frameworks of UNSCR 1325 & CEDAWStudy on Women Affected by Conflict in Post War Sri Lanka:Selected cases of Marginalisation and Poverty; Female Headed Households; Female Ex-Combatants; Land Rights and Domestic Violence

First Print: February 2014Women and Media CollectiveISBN 978-955-1770-15-0

Compiled by Women and Media Collective

Design and Layout Chandraguptha Thenuwara

Research Team

Azra Abdul Cader (Advisor Research and Co-Editor)Kumudini Samuel (Advisor Research and Co-Editor)Jayanthi Kuru Uthumpala (Research Coordinator)Sarala Emmanuel (Lead Researcher and Research Adviser, Suriya Womens Development Centre)Anuratha Rajaratnam (Data processor and analyst, Suriya Womens Development Centre)Shanthi Satchchithanandam (Research Adviser, Viluthu Centre for Human Resource Development)Sherine Xavier (Research Adviser, Home for Human Rights)Rupa Gamage (Research Adviser, Rajarata Praja Kendraya)Anberiya Haniffa (Research Adviser, Muslim Womens Research and Action Forum)

This Research and Publication were supported by FOKUS

Published byThe Women and Media Collective56/1, Sarasavi Lane, Castle Street, Colombo 8, Sri LankaTelephone: 94-115632045, 5335800, 5335800, 2690201Fax: 94-112690201, 2690192Email: wmcsrilanka@gmail.com

Web: womenandmedia.org

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AcknowledgementsThe Women and Media Collective extends its gratitude and thanks to Professor SavitriGoonesekera of the Centre for Womens Research, former Vice Chancellor of the Universityof Colombo and former CEDAW Committee member; Ms. Shanthi Dairiam of InternationalWomens Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific and former member of the CEDAW Committeeand Ms. Kamala Chandrakirana former Chairperson of the Komnas Perempuan, theIndonesian National Commission on Violence Against Women and current Chair of the UNWorking Group on Discrimination Against Women in Law and Practice who helped usconceptualize this study using the frameworks of CEDAW and UNSCR 1325. We also wish toacknowledge with thanks the contextual framing provided by Ms. Ambika Sathkunanathan.Our thanks are due in particular to Ms. Azra Abdul Cader for her expertise and valuableassistance in designing the research and for the training and mentoring she provided to theteam of researchers. We also thank Ms. Chulani Kodikara, Ms. Shanthi Satchchithanadam,Ms. Sherine Xavier and Mr. Mirak Raheem for the literature reviews conducted tosupplement the field studies. This study was made possible however only because of theinvaluable and committed work of the six organisations Suriya Womens DevelopmentCentre and Koralaipattu North Development Union, Batticaloa; Viluthu: Centre for HumanResource Development; Home for Human Rights; Rajarata Praja Kendraya and MuslimWomens Research and Action Forum that agreed to partner with us in the conduct of thisstudy. Our thanks are especially due to Sarala Emmanuel, Rajaretnam Anuratha, IndiranJeyanthy and Research Team at the Suriya Womens Development Centre (SWDC) andKoralaipattu North Development Union (KPNDU), Batticaloa; Shanthi Satchithanandam,Indumathi Hariharathamotharan and Research Team at Viluthu: Centre for Human ResourceDevelopment; Sherine Xavier, Ranitha Gnanarajah and Research Team at Home for HumanRights (HHR); Anberiya Haniffa, Furkaan Bannu and Research Team at Muslim WomensResearch and Action Forum (MWRAF) and Sheela Rathnayeke, Rupa Gamage and ResearchTeam at the Rajarata Praja Kendraya (RPK). They took the lead in conceptualizing anddesigning the studies, mentoring and supporting the researchers and analysing the findingsand formulating recommendations. The study on violence against women was conducted bythe six Centre Managers of MWRAF, A.C.Bathuriya Banu, A. M. S. Jumana Hazeen, K. Vinoja,U. L. Hafeela, M. M. J. Farvin and R. Logitha to whom we also extend our thanks.We are also grateful to FOKUS, Norway for its generous support that made this workpossible resulting in the five studies and this publication. Our thanks are also due to Mr.Chandraguptha Thenuwara for the design of this report and Globe Printing Works for itsprinting.

Kumudini SamuelOn behalf of the Women and Media Collective

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AcronymsCBO Community Based OrganisationCDF Civil Defence ForceCEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination againstWomenCENWOR Centre for Women's ResearchCEPA Centre for Poverty AnalysisCOHRE Centre on Housing Rights and EvictionsCPA Centre for Policy AlternativesCSD Civil Security DepartmentDDR Disarmament, Demobilization and ReintegrationDHS Demographic and Health SurveyDS Divisional SecretaryDSD Divisional Secretariat DivisionEHRN Exploring Human Rights and NormsFHH Female Headed HouseholdsGN/GS Grama Niladhari / Grama SevekaHHR Home for Human RightsICES International Centre for Ethnic StudiesID Investigations and DocumentationINGO International Non-governmental OrganizationIWRAW AP International Womens Rights Action Watch Asia PacificLD Legal DefenceLKR Sri Lanka RupeeLLRC Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation CommissionLTTE Liberation Tigers of Tamil EelamMMDA Muslim Marriages and Divorce ActMWRAF Muslim Women's Research and Action ForumNGO Non-governmental OrganizationNRC Norwegian Refugee CouncilO/L Ordinary LevelPAMA Public-Assisted Monthly AllowancePARC Protective Accommodation and Rehabilitation CentrePTSD Post-Traumatic Stress DisorderRPK Rajarata Praja Kendraya/ Rajarata Community CentreSWDC Suriya Womens Development CentreUN United NationsUNSCR United Nations Security Council ResolutionVCHRD Viluthu Centre for Human Resource DevelopmentWDO Women Development OfficerWD Womens DeskWMC Women and Media CollectiveWRDS Women Rural Development Societies

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ContentsIntroduction 2 - 5Chapter 1Women, Marginalisation and PovertyIn Post War Batticaloa, Sri LankaSuriya Womens Development Centre 7 - 18Chapter 2Situation of Female-Headed Households Post War in SelectedRegions of Batticaloa, Jaffna and Vavuniya DistrictsViluthu, Centre for Human Resource Development 20 - 29Chapter 3Female Ex-combatants in post-war Sri Lanka: Experiencesfrom selected regions in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu,Mannar, Vavuniya, Batticaloa, Ampara and TrincomaleedistrictsHome for Human Rights 31- 39Chapter 4Securing Land Rights for Women Affected by War: The caseof three border villages in Anuradhapura districtRajarata Praja Kendraya 41- 48Chapter 5Discrimination and Access to Justice: Muslim Women SeekingRemedies for Domestic Violence in Selected Regions of theAmparai and Batticaloa DistrictsMuslim Womens Research and Action Forum 50 - 59

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2Introduction

In July 2010, fifteen months after the end of the war, a group of over 80 women from all theconflict affected districts in the country and from Colombo based organisations, cametogether for the first time, to discuss how women should engage with the process of postwar recovery and on potential processes of conflict resolution, reconciliation, healing andtransformation. This consultation began a process of dialogue and identified a range ofissues that women were working on, continue to work on. It also discussed developing bothindividual and collective strategic interventions that would ensure Constitutional guaranteesof equality for women and strengthen the implementation of UN Security CouncilResolution 1325 and the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discriminationagainst Women in the context of post war Sri Lanka. Among the priority areas identified forfurther strategizing and work were: Safety and Security; Livelihoods; Displacement andResettlement; Detainees and Former Female Combatants; Political Participation andDecision Making Structures.

As a follow up to this consultation which was supported by FOKUS, the Women and MediaCollective together with five organisations present at the Consultation decided to begin aprocess of documentation and evidence based analysis to explore the impact of historicalevents i.e. in the context of the war and displacement years, on womens lives and howthese events have impacted on womens abilities to rebuild their lives post war. Thisinitiative too was supported by FOKUS.

In terms of the Sri Lankan Constitutions guarantee of equality to women and theConvention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), weanalysed this impact through a framework of substantive equality and nondiscrimination.We also used the principles set out in UN Resolution 1325 that deals with womens securityand the enabling of post war recovery and peace. These frameworks allow for therecognition of challenges women have faced in the past and how these impact on themusing some of the opportunities available to them in the post war context.

This report presents the key findings from five studies that were undertaken in selectedareas in post war Sri Lanka. Each of the studies focused on a specific issue and concentratedon a specific geographic location. The issues selected for study and documentation were:domestic violence, poverty and womens marginalisation, female headed households,former female combatants and land access and rights. The studies were located in differentparts of the Northern, Eastern and North Central provinces all of which were affected byethnic conflict and war.

Women and Media Collective facilitated the studies, which were conducted in collaborationwith locally based organisations working to promote, protect and realise womens rightsand entitlements. These organizations were Viluthu: Centre for Human ResourceDevelopment (VCHRD), the Muslim Women's Research and Action Forum (MWRAF), Home

3for Human Rights (HHR), Suriya Womens Development Centre (SWDC), and Rajarata PrajaKendraya (RPK). They work variously in the districts of Jaffna, Trincomalee, Kilinochchi,Vavuniya, Batticaloa, Akkaraipattu, Kalmunai and Anuradhapura.

As organisations working at the community level during the years of war in the conflictaffecteddistricts of the Northern, Eastern and North Central Provinces of Sri Lanka it has been ourexperience that while war affects all communities and both women and men, it affectedwomen in different and specific ways. Living through war and its consequences caused newforms of vulnerabilities for women while it exacerbated existing disadvantages. Addressingthese in the immediate aftermath of the war and thereafter is a crucial component ofrecovery. This includes examining womens experiences in terms of economic and socialjustice as well as in terms of civil and political rights.

Objectives of the researchThe overall objective of this research was to develop an evidence base of the impacts of thepost war context on women, particularly in regions that were directly affected by the war.Through the focus on specific thematic areas the study will show that there are a number oflimitations when considering gender equality and womens rights in the context of post warrecovery and development as envisaged in CEDAW and Resolution 1325.

The focus on specific thematic areas involved the following aims/study objectives.

Female Headed Households (FHH)1 To provide a situational analysis of the conditions and options that FHH have in a post

war situation. To provide evidence related to womens access and control of the rehabilitation and

reconstruction that can help support advocacy activities of the Forum for WomenHeaded Households and Vilithu.

Domestic violence2 To understand the conditions of women affected by domestic violence in a post-war

context and the impacts it has on their families. To broaden insight into the services women who are affected by domestic violence have

access to.

Female Ex-combatants3 To gain a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the diverse and profound

challenges which female ex-combatants face in post-war Sri Lanka and identify how theyare coping.

To provide a contextualization of how female ex-combatants are coping in theirrespective communities including socio, economic and security issues related to

1 Study undertaken by Viluthu, Centre for Human Resource Development2 Study undertaken by Muslim Women's Research and Action Forum (MWRAF)3 Study undertaken by Home for Human Rights (HHR)

4rehabilitated female ex-combatants who have been reintegrated into their respectivesocieties

To emphasize areas that state and non-state actors can improve these womens lives.

Marginalised women4 To assess the impact of displacement, resettlement and extreme marginalisation on

women's lives in accessing basic needs, livelihoods and income, land, services andinformation, safe migration and freedom from violence within the context ofdevelopment programmes that leave out women.

Woman and land5 To access the nature of land access by women in a region that was affected by war and

understand the perspective related to womens access and rights to land.

The following chapters will present the findings from each of these studies, identifying theimpacts of the war that are present today, nearly five years after the end of the fighting. Thechapters conclude with an identification of theme specific conclusions andrecommendations for action.

MethodologyThe conduct of the studies was preceded by a residential documentation training workshopin September 2012 for all the partner organisations and their researchers, research co-ordinators and mentors. The workshop was conducted by the Women and Media Collectivewith two external trainers Ms Shanthi Dairiam of International Womens Rights ActionWatch Asia Pacific (IWRAW AP) and a former member of the CEDAW Committee and MsKamala Chandrakirana former Chairperson of Komnas Perempuan the Indonesian NationalCommission on Violence Against Women and current Chair of the UN Working Group onDiscrimination Against Women in Law and Practice. Create an understanding of CEDAW inrelation to its application in the context of women and conflict. The workshop focused oninformation gathering and documentation using the frameworks of CEDAW and UNSCR1325. The workshop had among its objectives to:

Assess the conflict situation in Sri Lanka and an understanding of the vulnerabilities ofwomen;Create an understanding of UNSCR 1325 and CEDAW in relation to its application in thecontext of women and conflict;Identify a set of indicators for information collection and data gathering to addressvulnerabilities of women in the context of conflict in Sri Lanka from a human rightsperspective.

Each of the studies adopted standalone methodologies taking into account their specificobjectives. Each study undertook an issue specific literature review that examined recentresearch and debates as well as identifying gaps in research. A research framework wasdeveloped to situate studies within the scope of CEDAW and Resolution 1325 and4 Study undertaken by Suriya Womens Development Centre5 Study undertaken by Rajarata Praja Kendraya

5methodology was suggested and refined accordingly. The studies used both quantitativeand qualitative methodologies, including household surveys mainly with women, includingwomen headed households within each of the study contexts. Qualitative methods such asfocus group discussions and in-depth interviews were used to investigate more sensitiveissues such as conditions of female ex-combatants and domestic violence. The samples forthese studies were drawn from databases that agencies had access to, in terms of peoplethey already worked with or assisted, while greater randomization was attempted withothers. Key person interviews were conducted with stakeholders based on each of theresearch topics that enabling an alternative viewpoint on the issues and a triangulation ofthe information from different sources. Case studies were also used for some of the studiesattempting to explore some of the issues in greater detail.

Kumudini SamuelWomen and Media Collective31 December 2013

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7Chapter 1

Women, Marginalisation and PovertyIn Post War Batticaloa, Sri Lanka

By Suriya Womens Development Centre

1. Background and IntroductionEconomic empowerment for women is a key aspect of post war recovery. The war impactedon women, in various ways, causing new forms of vulnerabilities that may not have beenpresent before. Addressing these in the immediate aftermath of the war and thereafter is acrucial component of recovery. This includes examining womens experiences in terms ofeconomic justice.

This chapter6 attempts to explore these aspects in the contextof Batticaloa, in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka, which wasaffected by the war for several decades. It explores the impactof historical events i.e. in the context of the war anddisplacement years, on womens lives and how these eventshave impacted on womens abilities to rebuild their lives postwar. In terms of the Convention on the Elimination of AllForms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) this couldbe analysed through a framework of substantive equality,which emphasises womens ability to achieve their rights interms of results, going beyond mere opportunities. CEDAWallows for the recognition of challenges women have faced inthe past and how these impact on them using some of theopportunities available to them in the post war context. Theframing of the research that informs this study is also basedon the principles of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 inrelation to its pillars of protection and participation.

This chapter highlights experiences, which have impacted onboth men and women but have had a gender-intensifiedeffect on women due to women having less capacity to copeand the impact being different on women. This section willinclude an analysis on the impact of poverty, lack of access towater, lack of transport, loan schemes etc. on womens livesand wellbeing. This chapter will explore the impacts of these

6This chapter and the research that informed it was conducted by the Suriya Womens Development Centre, Batticaloa.

This section willinclude an analysison the impact ofpoverty, lack ofaccess to water, lackof transport, loanschemes etc. onwomens lives andwellbeing. Thischapter will explorethe impacts of theseon womens overallwellbeing includingthe challenges ofmarginalised womenin accessing basicservices and socialsecurity programmesestablished by theState.

8on womens overall wellbeing including thechallenges of marginalised women in accessing basicservices and social security programmes establishedby the State.

In addition, certain realities in the post war contextalso create real disadvantage for women. Theseinclude forms of sexual harassment, fear and controlof mobility, violence against women and trafficking.

2. Establishing the Context: BatticaloaHistory of Conflict 2006 Onwards

The official end to the war in the East is marked with the "Eastern Liberation" in July 2007,which was achieved after an intensive military offensive that lasted for a year.7 As with thedestruction in the North, many people (nearly 200,000 people) were displaced and theirlives and livelihoods destroyed. There were reports of the LTTE forcibly engaging civilians inthe war. This served to blur the distinction between combatants and the generalpopulation. The exact death toll is unknown. Although resettlement was undertaken swiftlyby the government, people returned to very little - destroyed homes, infrastructure andlimited opportunities. They were also faced with harsh weather changes that led to disasteraffectedness.8

According to the Sri Lanka Human Development Report 2012, Batticaloa District is amongthe lowest three districts with regard to the Human Development Index and the GenderInequality Index. Income poverty had increased from 10.7% in 2006/7 to 20.3% in 2009/10.

The Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA 2012) notes that the main thrust of thegovernment's reconstruction agenda is on economic development, narrowly construed asthe delivery of hardware, particularly infrastructure. With considerable assistance frombilateral donors such as China and India, and multi-laterals such as the Asian DevelopmentBank, the Neganahira Navodaya (Eastern Revival) and Uthuru Wasanthaya (Northern Spring)programmes in the Eastern and Northern provinces, respectively, have focused on buildingroads and bridges, as well as rehabilitating irrigation works.9 While this does address someneeds in these regions, an approach that focuses on infrastructure development alone doesnot take into account other needs of communities.Most women in Batticaloa engage in daily wage work, self-employment activities, unpaidfamily work, agriculture and fisheries related work for their daily income, most of whichhappens in the margins of the market economy and is not valued. When women arechronically poor, it is often inadequate when assistance programmes aim to integrate them

7 The war in Sri Lanka officially ended in May 2009, with a military victory for the government in the North of the country.8Sri Lankas Eastern Province: Land, Development, Conflict, Asia Report N15915 Oct 2008,http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/asia/south-asia/sri-lanka/159-sri-lankas-eastern-province-land-development-conflict.aspx9 Fernando P. and Moonesinghe S (2012), Livelihoods, Basic Services and Social Protection in Sri Lanka, Working Paper 6,CEPA, Colombo, p.10

According to the Sri LankaHuman Development Report2012, Batticaloa District isamong the lowest threedistricts with regard to theHuman Development Indexand the Gender InequalityIndex. Income poverty hadincreased from 10.7% in2006/7 to 20.3% in 2009/10.

9into a market economy without addressing any of thestructural barriers that poor marginalised womenface. Women have to also take on most of theresponsibilities in the care economy, which putsfurther pressures on accessing more appropriatework.10

3. FindingsThe study was done in two villages in Batticaloa asexample case studies. The objective was to analysethe progress of post war development initiativesthrough the standpoint of vulnerable andmarginalised women. Therefore, these villages werepurposely selected with the help of local womensgroups and government officials. A mixed methods study was carried out includingquantitative and qualitative components.This study was conducted in the villages of Kattumurivu and Aandankulam in the VakaraiDivisional Secretariat Division (DSD) and Thandiyadi in the Vavunatheevu DSD. The samplewas selected using the population list that was acquired from the Government Agent at thevillage level. A random sample was selected; in Kattumurivu and Aandankulam out of totalfamilies of 205 households, 82 households were selected (40%) and in Thandiyadi, out of182 households 100 households (56%) were selected. A female respondent from eachhousehold, who was available at the home, was selected for the interview. 2 focus groupdiscussions were conducted with the village women. Key person interviews wereundertaken with the school principals, Samurdi officers, Government Agents, social serviceofficers, preschool teacher, retired teacher, WRDS members, and local women leaders, inboth the locations.

3.1 The Impact of the War and Displacement on Womens LivesAll the women mentioned that they faced displacement multiple times in the war years (allof them mentioned that they were displaced more than five times from their village tonearby villages, facing major displacement in 2007).

Impact of war on social roles for women and girls

Kattumurivu and Aandankulam represents the real impact of the war years on womens lives.20% were widowed or separated and were heading their households. 53.5% of the womeninterviewed had married at or before they were 18 years old. Almost 1 in every 10 of thesewomen had married younger than age 15. Most of these women were below 30 years at thetime of the interviews. In the focus group discussion women mentioned that while being

10 Exploring the Economic Empowerment of Women in Conflict Affected Areas: Sri Lankan Case Study prepared for theAsia Pacific Women's Watch, November 2011.

All the women mentionedthat they faceddisplacement multiple timesin the war years (all of themmentioned that they weredisplaced more than fivetimes from their village tonearby villages, facing majordisplacement in 2007).

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displaced, and due to the fear of sexual violence andprotection, parents married off their daughters at avery young age. Another point for concern was that22.7% of women who had married at or before 18years of age, had done so within the last 4 years. Inother words 1 in 5 of these early marriages happenedrecently, in the post war context. Therefore, earlymarriage seemed to be a continuing practice in thepost war context.

Impact of war on livelihoods

The study asked respondents to calculate their lossesduring the massive displacement in 2006/07, mainly focusing on livelihoods related losses.Livelihoods assets to the value of LKR.6,517,702 were lost by the households in Thandiyadi.In Kattumurivu and Aandankulam 72 families (88%) had lost assets to the value ofLKR.2,880,500; on average each family lost LKR.40,000 worth of assets.

Impact of war on the right to education

In Kattumurivu out of the 82 households, only 1 household had both the man and womanhaving completed their O/Ls. In every other household, generally, none of the adults hadcompleted higher than secondary education.

Even though displacement, loss of assets, and denial of access to education affected bothmen and women, for women, it had created gendered intensified disadvantages in the postwar context. Specifically this meant vulnerabilities in responding to spiralling poverty,exploitation by sub agents when seeking employment as migrant workers, exploitation bymiddlemen when trying to sell their products, getting caught to loan schemes with highinterest rates, and difficulties in negotiating power relations within the home resulting indomestic violence.

3.2 Continued Disadvantages - Womens Livelihoods and PovertyIn Thandiyadi village, 87% of women respondents said that they have not been able to startan independent livelihood of their own since being resettled. In the years sinceresettlement, some of the women had got livelihoods assistance from different sources.However, often, these attempts had not been viable or sustainable. Some women noted theloss of assets as well as lack of capital, inability to sell their products due lack of transportand access to markets, lack of water for part of the year and lack of opportunities for skillsupgrading as reasons for them being unable to restart a viable livelihoods option. Eventhough assistance was given there seemed to be little support to the women to diversifyproductions so everyone was involved in the same livelihoods activity.

Poverty level in the two villagesThis study used the official poverty line as an indicative estimate to assess the income of the

Livelihoods assets to thevalue of LKR.6,517,702 werelost by the households inThandiyadi. In Kattumurivuand Aandankulam 72families (88%) had lostassets to the value ofLKR.2,880,500; on averageeach family lost LKR.40,000worth of assets.

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households and to provide an approximate picture ofthe poverty status of the women interviewed.According to this, 90% of those interviewed inKattumurivu and 76% of those interviewed inThandiyadi were earning less than what was requiredto meet the basic needs of their household11.

The invisible work of womenIn Kattumurivu and Aandankulam villages, men(husbands or sons) were the main income earners ina majority (78%) of households. Apart from homebased livelihoods activities, women's work in theKattumurivu village involved collecting honey fromthe jungle during the season, collecting fruits(paalpalam) from the jungle, weaving mats, and dailylabourer work in the paddy fields. However, as thesurvey data indicated, women did not see thisgruelling work as work even though most womenwere involved in going into the jungle to collect fruitsand honey and in daily wage work whenever it wasavailable.

The research was carried out during the paalpalam(Pallu) season; a local fruit which grew in thesurrounding jungles and was picked by women. They would start doing this work at 3.00a.m. in order to make the fruits available for sale at 10.00 a.m. to the middlemen, whobought it at a wholesale rate. The researchers observed a group of 10 women and girlsselling the fruits to a group of Muslim traders. They received a very low price, and had totolerate sexual comments and touching by the men.In Thandiyadi, in most of the households (76%) the main income earner was the husband.Men were mostly doing agriculture paddy cultivation and working as labourers inagriculture, daily wage-work, fishing and small business. In 9 households women were themain income earner and these were all women headed households. 4 other women wererunning small food businesses but were not the main income earner for their families. Allthe women who were involved in an income earning activity stated that they were finding ithard to make a profit.

Another important issue was that livelihood support programmes and general developmentprogrammes did not recognise womens work in the care economy. Women mentioned howthey managed to do household care work as well as their livelihoods work in the course ofthe day sometimes working very long hours. Therefore, early marriage, child careresponsibilities, and carrying the full burden of running the house had created gender11Official Poverty Line for Batticaloa 2013 Department of Census and Statistics website updated August 2013 was LKR.4,020 per person per month the self-declared income of households in this study that was below this amount was usedas indicative of the poverty level.

Another important issue wasthat livelihood supportprogrammes and generaldevelopment programmesdid not recognise womenswork in the care economy.Women mentioned howthey managed to dohousehold care work as wellas their livelihoods work inthe course of the day sometimes working verylong hours. Therefore, earlymarriage, child careresponsibilities, and carryingthe full burden of runningthe house had createdgender intensifieddisadvantages for women inthe post war context.

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intensified disadvantages for women in the post war context.

Caught in the spiral of loan repayments Thandiyadi villageIn the current context, where households had suffered tremendous losses due to the war,and were affected by poverty, one of the few options available to them has been loans.These loans were offered by government services, private banks, finance companies as wellas NGOs. In Thandiyadi in 2013, 10 households out of the total interviewed for this research,had obtained loans. That is 1 in every 10 households had got a loan as livelihoods orhousing/repairs assistance. The repayment amounts placed a heavy burden on the poorfamilies who did not have sufficient income sources to be able to pay back such loans aswell as take care of daily expenses related to the household.

One of the women in the focus group discussion mentioned that along with her, 30 otherwomen had taken loans from a finance company that came as a mobile service to hervillage. The loans were conditional. The women had to be between the age of 18-50. Shetook a loan of LKR.25,000 and of this LKR.1,000 was held back as insurance i.e. if she diedor was medically affected and was unable to repay the loan, then the loan could becancelled. Her weekly repayment was LKR.700. The loan was for 12 months. At the end of12 months she had repaid LKR.36,400, which came to 45.6% additional repayment on theinitial capital amount borrowed.

3.3Post War Realities - Womens Vulnerabilities and Gender Based ViolenceIn these areas domestic violence was very high.However, very few women reported these cases.Very few cases ever went to the Police. According tosome key informants, there were areas where therewas extreme poverty and women were commonlyengaging in sex work to survive. Sometimes this worktook place in the village, sometimes the womentravelled to other locations. However, due to thesensitivity of the issue and the stigma around sexwork it was not possible to verify the extent of thisphenomenon.

Trafficking of women seeking employment asmigrant workers

In one of the villages, the issue of trafficking was veryreal. One woman had left her 2 children with herfather and was away from home for about 2 monthsin 2012. Her husband had died in the war. She hadsupposedly been promised work as a migrant worker.She returned after 2 months and no one knew whereshe had been. Some of the village leaders suspectedthat she may have been taken to Colombo with the

Another important issuewas that livelihoodsupport programmes andgeneral developmentprogrammes did notrecognise womens workin the care economy.Women mentioned howthey managed to dohousehold care work aswell as their livelihoodswork in the course of theday sometimes workingvery long hours.Therefore, earlymarriage, child careresponsibilities, andcarrying the full burdenof running the house hadcreated genderintensified disadvantagesfor women in the postwar context.

The loans were conditional.The women had to bebetween the age of 18-50.She took a loan ofLKR.25,000 and of thisLKR.1,000 was held back asinsurance i.e. if she died orwas medically affected andwas unable to repay theloan, then the loan could becancelled. Her weeklyrepayment was LKR.700. Theloan was for 12 months. Atthe end of 12 months shehad repaid LKR.36,400,which came to 45.6%additional repayment on theinitial capital amountborrowed.

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promise of legitimate work and then used for otherwork. The sub agents came to the village fromKinniya and Kantale (Trincomalee District) and wereusually Muslim men who give LKR.10,000 up front tothe family. According to the GS another woman hadjust returned from Qatar after becoming pregnant.The background of her situation was also not clear.

3.4 Access to Social Services, Protectionand Facilities

Samurdi and social safety netsOne of the most important safety nets for extremelypoor and marginalised families has been the Samurdischeme. However, in both villages women facedsome challenges to accessing their right to socialsecurity measures. In the district level interviews, thegovernment officers mentioned that the number ofbeneficiaries in 2009 were 86,824 and this had beenreduced to 79,181 in 2012. In the Kattumurivu villageonly 51 families were receiving Samurdi assistance. In other words only 24% of the familieswere receiving Samurdi. Most of the families were allocated LKR.750 per family per month.Out of this, LKR.500 was what they got in hand. To collect the money they had to go toKathiraveli (19 kilometers away) to the nearest Samurdi Bank. This cost them LKR.200 oneway. In the Thandiyadi village, out of the sample survey, 53 (54%) families were on Samurdi.Out of this 53, 50 families were receiving LKR.500 cash in hand.

What became clear through the interviews was that women who were in extreme povertyperceived Samurdi assistance as a long term socialsecurity. It was a safety net to protect them throughrapid fluctuations of income. Even in times whentheir earnings may have gone up, due to thevulnerability to risks, women preferred to stay on thesafety net. Therefore, the target orientedprogramming of the scheme, seemed to fall short ofthe realities of poor peoples lives. Assessment ofincome yearly, and taking off families yearly, seems ashort sighted strategy to deal with the high risk ofpoverty dynamics. The demand on state officials notto increase the number of Samurdi recipients withoutremoving others, seem to work against a philosophyof a social safety net for the poor.

Another point for critique would be the linking of thesocial protection support with the repayment ofSamurdi loans. In 1 village the women mentioned

Assessment of incomeyearly, and taking offfamilies yearly, seems ashort sighted strategy todeal with the high risk ofpoverty dynamics. Thedemand on state officials notto increase the number ofSamurdi recipients withoutremoving others, seem towork against a philosophy ofa social safety net for thepoor.

In other words only 24% ofthe families were receivingSamurdi. Most of thefamilies were allocatedLKR.750 per family permonth. Out of this, LKR.500was what they got in hand.To collect the money theyhad to go to Kathiraveli (19kilometers away) to thenearest Samurdi Bank. Thiscost them LKR.200 one way.In the Thandiyadi village, outof the sample survey, 53(54%) families were onSamurdi. Out of this 53, 50families were receivingLKR.500 cash in hand.

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that since the social welfare was now a cashgrant, this was held back when women hadfailed to repay the loan amount. Thisfundamentally went against the philosophyof a social safety net or food support forextremely poor families. The clash ofobjective loan schemes and pressure forrepayment, and social security schemesbecame problematic.

Even though there was the facility forscholarships for school students who hadpassed their O/Ls (LKR.1,000 per month) ofSamurdi recipient families, children from these 2 villages were left out because only veryfew families were on the scheme.

Women who were members of village level representative bodies such as the WRDS, andWDOs mentioned that one of the mainchallenges for women was that the Samurdiregistration was in the mans name, this waslater confirmed by the Samurdi officer of thearea. According to him, the name can bechanged to the womens name, only if theman has gone out of the village on work orwas unwell; even in these cases the man hadto give a letter in writing stating that his wifecan collect the stamp amount. This alsohighlights the gendered experiences ofwomen who may have opportunities toaccess services but due to the patriarchalviews of state policies and structures they aredenied their right to services. In other words women are unable to transfer opportunitiesinto results. Since the change of the stamp into cash women felt they had lost more controlover the money. There were instances where the men took part or the full amount, for theirown expenses. Women often participated in the Samurdi meetings and were members ofthe various Samurdi groups. However the state policy was to register the household underthe mans name as head of household. This also had implications for women who had beenabandoned by their husbands, whose husbands had 2 marriages, and who were facingdomestic violence.

Most of the women were not aware of the actual amount that was their right, and for whatpurposes and how much was being cut from their Samurdi support by the Samurdi Bank.This raises the question of right to information of very poor and marginalised families. Thiswas particularly significant in relation to the changes that had taken place in the Samurdiassistance scheme. Introducing a banking system had taken away a lot of the controlwomen had over knowledge on the assistance they were entitled to. There is an urgent

Women who were members ofvillage level representative bodiessuch as the WRDS, and WDOsmentioned that one of the mainchallenges for women was that theSamurdi registration was in themans name

This also highlights the genderedexperiences of women who mayhave opportunities to accessservices but due to the patriarchalviews of state policies andstructures they are denied theirright to services.

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need to review the changes in the Samurdi social protection scheme at a national level, interms of its impact on womens access to social security and welfare.

Access to servicesServices AccessElectricity Kattumurivu village had no electricity. In Thadiyadi, electricity

was available but not all households could afford to access it.Kerosene stamp12 -entitled to LKR.1,200worth of kerosene perhousehold which is givenevery 6 months (LKR.200per month worth ofkerosene).

In Thandiyadi, in the survey sample, 47.5% mentioned thatthey were on the kerosene stamp - In Kattumurivu, accordingto the GS of the area, all the families were on the kerosenestamp. However, in 2013, they had not received any keroseneup to August, they started receiving the kerosene only inSeptember.

PAMA13 assistance In the Thandiyadi survey sample, only 5 families were gettingPAMA assistance. In Kattumurivu 15 families were receivingthis assistance. However, even the local government officialsstated that for those families in Kattumurivu this was a non-assistance, as their travel cost ate up most of it.

Elders allowance14 In the Vakarai DS division there were 360 registered elders. InKattumurivu there were 11 who were getting an allowance ofLKR.1,000 per month. In Thandiyadi 18 elders were receivingthe elders allowance of LKR.1,000.

Disability and illnesssupport

In the Vakarai DSD, 360 persons were registered as disabled.There was no sex disaggregated data on this. In 2013, 50 fromthis list were supported through the DS office with a LKR.3,000monthly allowance. Equipment needed by people withdisabilities, were regularly being requested through the DSoffice to the Social Services Department in Colombo. InKattumurivu, they have supported 1 person with a wheelchair,1 person with a hearing aid and requested 1 more wheelchair.There was also a housing assistance scheme for people withdisabilities to the value of LKR.250,000. In Thandiyadi, 2persons with disabilities, had been supported for housingassistance. There was also a special scheme for children whoare terminally ill or mentally ill, where the family got LKR.1,000per month as assistance. For Vakarai DS division, theysupported 6 such children in 2012 and in 2013 they supported

12The kerosene stamp was issued to those families in poverty who did not have access to electricity.13Public-Assisted Monthly Allowance - PAMA assistance is given to extremely poor families identified by the Social ServicesDepartment. A monthly assistance of LKR.250 basic amount and an additional LKR.50 per family member is given. Thecriteria for eligibility is extreme poverty (income is very low), and/or if a family member is terminally ill.14This is assistance given through the Social Services Department to men and women who were older than 70 years. Theobjective of this support was to promote the rights of elders and involve elders in social development.

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4 children.

Though these schemes were good initiatives, given the magnitude of the problems in thewar affected areas, the assistance available for families, both in terms of the monetary value(such as the LKR.200/- kerosene stamp) and in terms of the numbers researched (50 out of360 persons with disabilities) seem grossly inadequate. In very marginalised villages, the lackof transport meant that the cost of going to centralised points to collect such assistance ateup most of the assistance. Another concern was that, for poor families, the impact of thedelays in these basic supports such as not getting the kerosene stamp for 8 months in theyear lead to much hardship. This points again to the importance of substantive equality andif access can be translated into results by poor families.

TransportIn Kattumurivu - there was no public transport to the village. There were private lorrieswhich took people for LKR.200 one way. Very few families could afford this. The road wasdamaged and the buses refused to go. During the rainy season the road was totallyinaccessible. The Principal spoke of how the teachers carried their motorbikes over theirheads everyday and waded through chest level water to reach the school during the rainyseason. When we drove past, there were signs of the road being constructed.

Access to educationIn both the villages, according to the Principals of the local school, there was a high drop-outrate among children at 14 years. The reasons given were poverty and work. During thepaddy harvesting season boys and girls started working to support their families. In theThandiyadi focus group discussion the women mentioned that one reason for children todrop out of school after Grade 9 was the distance of the school. Through the Thandiyadi DSoffice there was an attempt to involve dropout girls in future career planning, however,there was very low participation. This pointed towards cultural values of families thatcontrolled the movement of adolescent girls. Boys who dropped out got into workimmediately, however, for girls the options seemed to be limited to the home. This also hadthe additional risk of early marriage for girls.

Access to waterIn Thandiyadi, all houses were using wells as their water source. 33 households had privatewells, 60 households were using common wells. In other words 6 out of 10 houses relied oncommon wells for their source of water. These common wells had water only for 6 monthsof the year. During the dry season women had to walk a minimum of 2Km-3Km (one way) toget the water. To collect the water and return home it took 3 hours. Women usually wentearly morning to collect the water. Water was such a precious resource that people stolewater, and protecting water was a big challenge for women. Women spoke of theharassment and uncomfortableness they faced while bathing at the public well as mensometimes watched the women and passed comments.

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In Kattumurivu as well, water was a big issue. They had water only for 6 months of the year.They had a common well which dried up during the dry season. They had to also share thiswell with the nearby army camp. The camp regularly used a pump and filled their tank. Thisgreatly reduced the water for the village. Last year the DS office brought water in a bowser.

Lack of water affected womens livelihoods - women tried to do home gardening withoutsuccess. Even in the rainy season it was risky due to the floods. In addition, goats andpoultry rearing were also highly risky due to lack of access to water. The scarcity of waterbecomes a risk factor for the sustainability of livestock and home gardens. If the livelihoodsassistance is loan-based this adds the additional burden on repayment on women. As onewoman mentioned all our other work, like sending children to school, looking after ourvegetables, cooking, cleaning, keeping the family healthy, earning our own income, time todo a livelihoods activity, all depends on having access to water. Therefore the denial of thisright impacts on so many other rights for women.

4. ConclusionsThis study focused on 2 villages which were very badly affected by the war. They remainmarginalised even 4-5 years after the war ended. From these 2 village studies it is very clearthat marginalisation lead to discrimination in 2 profound ways. Firstly it lead to structuraldiscrimination based on historic events. Such as losses due to the war and displacement,which families had not been able to replace. For example in Thandiyadi many women hadnot been able to restart their livelihoods, or replace their livelihood assets which they lostduring the war, which amounted to more than 6 million rupees. This was the loss of 99families in one small village. This is a grave indicator as to the type of losses householdssuffered, or in other words, the cost paid by poor families to the war effort.

Events that happened in the past have created discrimination in the present. By notrecognising this and putting in place proactive strategies the state is non-compliant toCEDAW. There should be an acknowledgement of this loss or cost paid by poor households.The other costs highlighted in this report included, denial of right to education and earlymarriage. These costs have impacted on womens ability to cope and rebuild a decentquality of life.

Secondly, discrimination meant the lack of enabling conditions, such as nutritious food,shelter, health, transport, markets, electricity that had a 'gender-intensified impact15' onwomen. The challenges women faced in completing houses with the assistance given duethe burden of household care work and expenses, the gendered impact of the Samurdiassistance being registered in the mans name as the head of household, the impact ofchanging the food stamp into a cash grant where the control of the money was with thebanking structures, the confusion due to the lack of information on various schemes andentitlements for poor households, the lack of transport which had denied women access toservices and markets, the lack of access to water eating into the time and strength of

15 A gender intensified impact is when a problem that affects both men and women is experienced differently by womenor impacts more on women or women have less capacity to cope due to their gender roles Resource Manual, Trainingfor Local Womens Organisations in the Context of Conflict and Post War in Sri Lanka, IWRAW AP & WMC, 2012 ColomboSri Lanka

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women who had to walk long distances to collect it, were some of these gender intensifiedimpacts documented in this report. Also the fact that there is very little sex disaggregateddata available has meant that the gendered impact on women was invisible.

5. Recommendations There is a clear need to increase resources allocated through national budgets forpoor families like Samurdi support (both in terms of outreach as well as actualamount given per family), kerosene allowance, disability support etc. It is important to keep the food stamp and social safety net scheme separate fromSamurdi loan schemes. The social safety net should reach all poor families and not be targeted. There needs to be an impact study to see if loan based livelihoods support hashelped very poor women to have a sustainable livelihood, as this seems to be theprimary driver for addressing poverty in the post war context. There is a need for gender sensitisation of officials to understand if women actuallyhave access to income that is, understand the gender discrimination in access andcontrol of income within the home. This is important in relation to loans, Samurdiassistance, income from livelihoods activities etc. There needs to be a change in discourse and analysis which allows for therecognition of and value womens care work and how this work is an importanteconomic contribution. This includes the recognition of how women carry a doubleburden of home-work and livelihoods work. These responsibilities need to befactored in when supporting womens livelihoods. For example by setting upcommunity child care facilities, or a monthly welfare support for women whilepregnant or soon after delivery etc. In relation to very marginalised areas it is important to address structural issues likeaccess to transport, roads, access to water, access to electricity, access to health(hospitals), access to social support like elders allowance, Samurdi, kerosene stampetc., as the mere availability of these services does not necessarily guarantee thatwomen (and men) can claim their right to these services. As loan schemes are directly targeting women, there is a clear need to developstrategies to deal with finance and leasing companies. In terms of the genderedexperiences of women, loans are linked with harassment, sometimes sexualharassment and sometimes suicides. Therefore it becomes crucial to monitor andcontrol these schemes to ensure that such schemes do not charge exorbitant interestrates and exploitative repayment terms taking advantage of womens lack ofeconomic literacy. It is important to keep in mind that what people lost during the war is far greaterthan the assistance now provided by the state, NGOs and INGOs. The cost of war wasborne not only by the state but by very poor people in terms of their education,livelihoods assets, and health.

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Chapter 2

Situation of Female-Headed Households Post War inSelected Regions of Batticaloa, Jaffna and Vavuniya Districts

by Viluthu: Centre for Human Resource Development

1. Context and BackgroundAs a result of over three decades of conflict and civil war, rural communities of the Northernand Eastern provinces in Sri Lanka have suffered multiple displacements, loss of lives, loss oflivelihoods and depletion of assets. These losses have impacted most on the women whowere forced to become the main providers of their families due to death, disappearance orinjury of their husbands or some other earning member. Women mostly rely on their humancapital (i.e. labour) and have been able to cope to some extent working as agriculturallabourers, small scale food producers etc. but the sustainability of such livelihoods isquestionable within a context of war, displacement and destruction of social and economicinfrastructure. The core issue however was the extremely slow pace of the implementationof housing and other rehabilitation components by the government after the war ended inMay 2009. There are still a number of displaced families who have been resettled but havehad no adequate access to housing assistance and therefore living in shacks with no viableavenues for pursuing a living for themselves. This has, in some areas, spawned thetrafficking of women and their entry in to the sex trade.

Two important development projects in post-war Sri Lanka are the Northern Spring (UthuruWasanthaya) and Eastern Revival (Negenahira Navodaya). They focused on security,development and infrastructure. Studies have been done in certain districts on theeffectiveness of these and other multi lateral programmes of the government. According toexisting international standards, the term Return indicates the returning of the displacedto their own home and land. Whereas, Resettlement indicates being located in a placeother than ones home and land. Studies point out that government officials use both thesewords interchangeably as a result of which it is erroneously assumed that return is completewhen persons are relocated to their own district. It is that most resettlements were effectedthrough coercion of threatening to cut off food supplies and other assistance in the place ofdisplacement. It is also alleged that for the settlers all aspects concerning resettlement safety, restitution of property, and conditions of sustainability were not fulfilled adequately.In many areas of the North re-settlers face the challenges of animals (wild boar andelephants) destroying their farms, threats from armed groups, crime and robberies. Theirincomes have not matched their previous status and returnees have not been able toacquire assets held before.

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The governments compensation was considered puny in comparison to their losses. It isindicated that the underlying cause for this situation is that the legal framework and bindinglaws of Sri Lanka are inadequate in protecting the rights of the displaced people. Physicalsecurity for women and its effects are other key issues. Militarization has impacted security

and the perception of security. Sexual violenceagainst women and incidents of trafficking havealso been reported arising, it is alleged, from thepresence of military personnel.

Studies have also delved into the need to reinventthe identities of women particularly when they aredisplaced or lose their husbands. The reason beingtheir social standing and identity depended on theirhome and marital status. The concepts of bothhome and a place to live in on return often meantvastly different meanings to women. While thepredominant discourse on repatriation uncriticallyaccepts and continually reaffirms territorializednotions of home, the narratives of resettled SriLankan women repeatedly implied that the conceptof home and suggests something much more thanmerely a territorial space or their physical,geographical place of origin. To the contrary, homefor many women was made up of a series ofinterconnected social, political, historical andpsychological spaces, the return to which involvedprocesses of struggle and contention. To this end,while resettlement to their native villages may havesignified an end to physical displacement, thereturn to territorialized space called `home and theresulting violence marked the beginning of otherforms of social, political and psychologicaldissatisfactions, making the return totallyimpossible, underscoring the necessity to devicecreative processes of reconstruction andrehabilitation (Jesse N 2003).

Identifying the need to organize these women in order to give them a voice, Viluthu beganto mobilize them from early 2012 as an autonomous entity apart from other womensgroups. The primary objective was to empower them to be able to engage in advocacyconcerning their issues. By end of 2013 more than 78 such forums were formed with about3,500 members. During this time, it was able to collaborate with Women and MediaCollective to carry out a research on Female Headed Households (FHH), in order to supportthe women to do evidence based advocacy. This chapter draws from the research done byViluthu, in selected areas of Batticaloa district in the Eastern Province, and Vavuniya andJaffna districts in the Northern Province. The research attempts to provide a situationalanalysis of the conditions and options that Female Headed Households (FHH) have in a post

While the predominantdiscourse on repatriationuncritically accepts andcontinually reaffirmsterritorialized notions ofhome, the narratives ofresettled Sri Lankan womenrepeatedly implied that theconcept of home and suggestssomething much more thanmerely a territorial space ortheir physical, geographicalplace of origin. To thecontrary, home for manywomen was made up of aseries of interconnectedsocial, political, historical andpsychological spaces, thereturn to which involvedprocesses of struggle andcontention.

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war situation in the selected regions and to provide evidence related to womens access andcontrol of the rehabilitation and reconstruction that can help support advocacy activities.

2. Research and MethodologyThe primary objectives of this research study were:a) to enable the Forum for Female Heads of Households and the District Federation of

Women Rural Development Societies (WRDSs) (both formed and strengthened byViluthu) to engage in evidence-based advocacy on issues related to womens access andcontrol of the rehabilitation and reconstruction processes, and

b) to contribute towards the preparation of the Shadow Report to the (Convention onthe Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) CEDAW Committee.

The specific objectives of the study were: identify issues related to female heads of households

prepare profiles of female heads of households (including widows, abandonedwomen etc) in selected regions, illustrating their livelihoods, living conditions, theirparticipation in household and community activity and opportunities available to themfor decision making, their risks and vulnerabilities in the post war situation.

to identify the constraints in accessing livelihoods and seek livelihood opportunitiesfor women heads of households from various groups

to identify the types of livelihoods and business development opportunitiesavailable that targeted female heads of households in the post war context

This research study documents the different ways the war affected women. It looks at howparticularly female heads of households are discouraged from participating in the post wardevelopment processes. The study also attempts to shed light on how post-warreconstruction processes influence the reconfiguration of gender roles and positions in thewake of war, and how womens actions could shape the construction of post-war socialstructures.

The research administered a structured and a semi structured questionnaire to collectquantitative and qualitative data from a sample of 270 Female Headed Households.Interviews were held with FHH who were widows, ex-combatants, girls and women whowere married during their teens, differently-abled women and single women. Data wascollected from selected areas in Jaffna, Vavuniya and Batticaloa Districts and key informantinterviews were conducted with government officials and individuals from CommunityBased Organizations, who work in these areas. Information from various institutions wasused to triangulate data collected. Observation methods were also used. The villagesselected from the Jaffna Distirct were Ketpali, Manthuvil and Puttur. In Vavuniya the villagesof Olumadu, Nainamadu and Sinna Adampan were selected. In Batticaloa, the villages ofAmpilanthurai and Munaikkadu were selected.

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3. Findings and Analysis3.1. Definition of Women Heads of HouseholdsThe very first issue explored was to understand how women themselves viewed thedefinition of who female heads of households were. 86% of the sample had been widowedwhile others were FHH due to separation (8.1%), never being married (3.7%) or married andabandoned (1.9%). FHHs had an average of two children. 88.5% of the respondents havechildren between the ages of one to six. FHH include women who are widows (57.4%),whose husbands have disappeared (4.8%), separated by legal or illegal means (18.9%), theyare confused about the term (3.7%), have no family members (1.5%), or the husband has

been abducted (2.6%). All of the respondentsexpressed their understanding of this terminology indifferent ways, but always in relation to their statusvis a vis the males in their family.

Broadening the definition of FHH has not beenconsidered with any seriousness in Sri Lanka. Thisstudy attempted to broaden this understandingbased on the experience of working in conflict-affected regions. Often FHH are seen as ahomogenous group, be it at the national policy level,at the implementation level or at the communitylevel. The study revealed that a majority of FHH weremarried and widowed (of various age groups), othershad separated from their spouses or spouses haddisappeared/abducted and a small proportion weresingle and living on their own and abandoned bytheir husbands. This not only points to theheterogeneity of this group of women that spansacross various age ranges, but also that they havecome to their status of FHH from differentcircumstances. As with the usual notion many ofthem have had husbands who have passed on butwith others, the male connection is varied or as inthe case of single women, does not appear to exist at

all, to define them as FHH. Most FHH who participated in the study (93%) had been affectedby the war directly or indirectly by a loss of a husband, missing, injured, displaced, loss ofproperties.

Another aspect to note here is that the term FHH has different meaning for differentwomen, which has implications from programmatic and policy perspectives. The use of theterm in a conventional way means that some women who are indeed FHH would be missedby recovery and development interventions and policy approaches when beneficiary inputsare sought, selection is undertaken and assistance provided. It could also have implicationson the nature of assistance that is provided to such women.

Another aspect to note hereis that the term FHH hasdifferent meaning fordifferent women, which hasimplications fromprogrammatic and policyperspectives. The use of theterm in a conventional waymeans that some womenwho are indeed FHH wouldbe missed by recovery anddevelopment interventionsand policy approaches whenbeneficiary inputs aresought, selection isundertaken and assistanceprovided. It could also haveimplications on the nature ofassistance that is provided.such women.

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3.2. Health ConditionsThe trauma of war is apparent in these women. Amajority had some form of war injury trauma, noncommunicable disease, or disability. 77.8% obtainedmedication occasionally, 16.3% attended clinicsregularly, and 4.1% for specific treatment and a few(1.4%) accessed a mobile clinic. 47.4% were able toaccess the town hospitals, 28.5% village clinics, 10.4%traditional healers, 5.9% Ayurvedic hospitals, 7.8%temple priest, Siddha medicine and Acupuncturespecialists. On average women who participated inthe study were less than 50 years old and appearedto be inhibited by some form of injury sustained fromthe war (physical and emotional), non-communicablediseases and hearing impairments. This indicates thatwhile illnesses maybe considered to be affectingolder FHH, the reality of their health conditions mightbe different, which could also have implications on their ability to access and engage inlivelihoods and other community activities and care for dependents. The manner in whichFHH tend to be excluded from society could also stem from this reality, where ill healthmight prevent them from taking on active roles in community and community development.

3.3. PovertyIn Sri Lanka, there has been a significant increase in the percentage of widowed women inrecent years. The main causes are death of males in civil war, those who go missing, who areabducted and those in custody. The concept of targeting female headed households toreduce poverty in the community remains contentious and lacks rigorous evidence. Women,who are usually the bread winners in female headed households, face gender discriminationwith respect to education, income, social rights, and economic opportunities. The studyreveals that the mean incomes of the widowed were Rs. 3,875 per month. When they earn adaily wage, they earn between LKR300-400 per week by working two-three days. This islimiting and does not help meet daily needs. In some instances they have to borrow fromtheir neighbours for their daily food needs.

3.4. LivelihoodsAccess to livelihood assistance is a key concern for FHHs within the post-war context. Thesewomen are often the most vulnerable and affected by poverty albeit poverty figures are notavailable for this group at the national level. They are however characterised by limitedincome generation opportunities given their situation. A majority of respondents in thestudy have received some form of assistance from government and non-governmentalsources to commence livelihood activities. They note the following criteria for being eligiblefor assistance; total loss, loss of a husband, loss of livelihood property, and dependencybeing the main factors. However, there are many who still do not receive any assistance.

A majority of respondents inthe study have receivedsome form of assistancefrom government and non-governmental sources tocommence livelihoodactivities. They note thefollowing criteria for beingeligible for assistance; totalloss, loss of a husband, lossof livelihood property, anddependency being the mainfactors. However, there aremany who still do notreceive any assistance.

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FHH are engaged in a range of livelihood activities.24.8% of women in this study are employed invarious state sector jobs, 11.9% of them wereunemployed but seeking jobs, very few of them 2.6%were not interested in seeking employment, some ofthem 5.6% engage in household work only, whilesome were unable to work because of a disability(2.2%). A majority of them however engage in wagelabour working in rice mills, in paddy fields and chenacultivation as well as engaging in small scalebusinesses such as running grocery shops, processingand selling rice, sewing, and making milk products forsale. These industries are most often home-basedand of a very simple nature, not always being done inline with market demands and opportunities butrather to supplement and provide subsistenceincome. Many feel they need to improve their skills,while others do not feel the need to improve theirskills.

Just over half the respondents desired a permanentsource of income, the ability to raise capital forlivelihoods, capacity development, technology andmaterials, access to home-based industries, self-employment opportunities, business adviseetc. A majority (87.4%) were dissatisfied with the livelihood programmes they had access to.They aspire to be independent and to be able to support their children while improving theirwellbeing.

3.5. Participation in decision makingFHHs involvement in community participation has been advocated as a way to improve thequality of public projects and services. The study finds that community involvement is moreeffective than when FHHs are given specific tasks along with training to develop livelihoods.This could also suggest that participation can be enhanced if coupled with livelihoodactivities, which can be used to meet needs at the household level. If women have theseoption they would be able to prioritize their involvement in community activities to agreater extent. This study also reveals that most of them (84.4%) had participated in thecommunity activities and few (15.4%) had not. The study also finds that the nature ofcommunity involvement is at a very basic, simplistic and mundane level. A majority ofwomen from FHH (53.3%) were mainly involved in community meeting at the village, while40% were involved in CBO meetings and activities and a small proportion (7%) wereinvolved in meetings held by NGOs and other departments. The low number of participationin meetings and activities undertaken by non-community actors could point to aspects ofinability of participation due to commitments, lack of a concerted effort on the part of theseactors to include FHH in their discussions, inability to identify FHH along a heterogeneousset of criteria. Despite this the interest to participate in development programmes is high

Just over half therespondents desired apermanent source ofincome, the ability to raisecapital for livelihoods,capacity development,technology and materials,access to home-basedindustries, self-employmentopportunities, businessadvise etc. A majority(87.4%) were dissatisfiedwith the livelihoodprogrammes they had accessto. They aspire to beindependent and to be ableto support their childrenwhile improving theirwellbeing.

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(58%) but a sizable proportion of women are notinterested which could indicate the effects of adependency culture in the immediate aftermath ofthe war. Women are part of the Public AssistanceMonthly Allowance (PAMA)16 (40%), Samurdhi17(26%), war related compensation (6%), housingscheme recipients (10%), loan and credit recipients(5%) and livelihood support recipients (14%).

Access to capacity development for most FHH islimited. The decisions to provide such opportunitiesare made by local government officials and clearlythey seem to be missing out on those who needthese services the most. FHH express facingdiscrimination from these officials and local development societies. They also worry thatthey would be unable to pay back loans and have a reluctance and lack of confidence to joineconomic ventures. Female participation in decision making within the community andinteraction was perceived to be very low with women stating reason of feelingthreatened/fear, lack of family support, having to maintain households and look afterchildren, pressure from family members to not attend, and health conditions. Interestinglyhowever, the study finds that most FHH take decisions related to their own householdsthemselves while for quarter of respondents these decisions are taken by extended familymembers. Those who take decisions do so for household expenses (60%), related toextended family (30.4%), their children (9.6%). Decisions related to children are quite lowdespite a majority of women feeling that they have opportunities to make decisions.

It was reported that 57.8% of FHH were very interested in participating in the developmentactivities and around 41.5% of the respondents were not interested to participate in thedevelopmental programmes. This study also found that respondents were involved inavailable development programmes in their areas of residence. FHH express facing stigmawithin their own families. They claim they are treated differently, are not spoken to withrespect, are invited to some events as opposed to others (funerals and not to weddings) andthis has limited their participation in family event as well as in public events.

4. Stakeholders MeetingsBefore finalizing the conclusions and recommendations, meetings with various stakeholderswere held in Jaffna, Batticaloa and lastly in Habarana. Government officials and seniormanagers of NGOs who work on women related programmes, and members of thenetworks of FHH were invited to these meetings to validate the findings. While, the districtlevel meetings were with district level stakeholders, the meeting at Habarana was withnational level actors. The discussions in all three meetings were extremely lively, with theparticipants fully engaged with the issues at hand. In the North, the discussion was aroundthe restrictions placed by the military in the areas where the research had been conducted16 A social protection programme run by the state providing a monthly allowance of Rs.1,000 to people over the age of 70years.17 A state safety nets programme targeting poor below the poverty line.

FHH express facing stigmawithin their own families.They claim they are treateddifferently, are not spokento with respect, are invitedto some events as opposedto others (funerals and notto weddings) and this haslimited their participation infamily event as well as inpublic events.

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(Ketpali). They discussed some aspects of the Thesawalamai18 as being obstacles for the fullenjoyment of property rights of women in Jaffna. The social services officers shared theirfield experiences of working with widows. They had to also face criticisms from amongst theFHH present in the meeting.

The womens NGOs were able to share some of the good practices in supporting livelihoodprojects for the women. New recommendations came from the floor in every one of thesemeetings which were also duly recorded. The growing indebtedness amongst women of theNorth and East, where private Banks and finance institutions were virulently marketing theircredit programmes were described by them. It was suggested that the Divisional Secretaryalong with the Women Development Officer and the Social service Officer should seekmeetings with such institutions to discuss a viable method of implementing a creditprogramme in their area. This could bring opportunities for their credit programme to besupportive and supplementary to the self employment projects carried out by thegovernment and not allow it to be independent of it and exploitative of the women.

5. Consultations with the FHHsMeanwhile, Viluthu conducted a series of consultations with groups of FHHs in all theproject districts of Viluthu, where they were able to voice their concerns problems and thesolutions they proffered. Altogether consultations with 72 forums of FHH were conducted.Each area focused on problems specific to them. These were collected in the form of aMemorandum which was adopted at a conference of FHHs held in Batticaloa on the 21st ofNovember. The recommendations/suggestions of this memorandum were also added to thefinal list of recommendations of the research report.

6. Conclusions and Recommendations Government statistics regarding FHH vary at every level due to the lack of auniversally accepted definition of FHH. An official definition for FHH must bearrived at in order to account for them in national plans. A majority of women in the study are confronted with multiple constrains. Thestudy revealed that many of the women are psycho-socially affected by the warand by post war conditions. The creation of a facilitating environment isnecessary to increase the livelihood options of the women affected by conflict inthe areas under study. For this to happen, future planning process anddevelopment interventions need to consider carefully the scope in the North andEast, nature and burden of different livelihood options open to women in FHHs. FHHs access to livelihood opportunities especially those related to traditionallivelihoods that are being revived in war affected regions limit opportunities andadd to conditions of poverty. In instances when women are involved in villageactivities, they are more aware of rights and responsibilities and have better

18 The personal law pertaining to Tamils from Jaffna peninsula

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leadership skills. Initiatives need to build on such successes and provide moreopportunities so that women can move out of poverty and improve theirwellbeing. Fertilizer and other subsidy schemes need to be open to women whoengage in highland cultivation. Since women are engaged in wage labour in theagriculture sector they should be supported to unionize. Also, Governmentlivelihood support programmes must have no age limit and be applicable to allwomen headed households regardless of age. These results do offer an important insight to government policy makers thatthey should be targeting specific groups in pursuit of reducing poverty andvulnerability. Civil society should take steps to promote greater representation of FHHswomen in the local government elections and political parties must ensure thatthey mentor and give women from FHH the opportunity to contest elections. Local organizations, such as CBOs and WRDSs and their work and role within thecommunity should be promoted and strengthened. They should also be givenopportunities to engage in and enter decision making levels in other CBOs andlocal institutions that are not dominated by women. Government and civil society should implement cost-effective, innovativeprogrammes, based on indigenous approaches to healing the psychosocial effectsof the war on FHHs. Womens property rights must be ensured and guaranteed including theproperty rights of FHHs who have no access to such rights. Bureaucratic inertiaand resistance to ensuring these rights must be addressed. Demilitarisation - the scaling down of military presence in areas of the North andEast must commence immediately and military involvement in civilian affairsmust be stopped. A pension scheme for widows that provides for a living allowance must beimplemented urgently. A special education allowance should be provided forchildren who live below the poverty line. Information about the whereabouts of missing and disappeared loved ones mustbe supplied to FHH together with the expedition of the cases of those indetention. All those without charges must be released forthwith. Legal aid forthose in detention and provision of adequate information to their familiesregarding the progress of their cases is essential. Most importantly, issuance bythe government of a certificate for the "disappeared' which is accepted in lieu of

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a death certificate by state and judicial processes for all official transactions, suchas the issuance and renewal of land permit holdings, transfer of property,enrolling children in school, obtaining compensation. Women police officersmust also be appointed to inquire into cases of the missing and the disappearedsince constant visits by male police officers to women headed households createsspace for possible violence/sexual harassment in addition to community gossip,all of which adversely impact women.

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Chapter 3

Female Ex-combatants in post-war Sri Lanka: Experiencesfrom selected regions in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu,Mannar, Vavuniya, Batticaloa, Ampara and Trincomaleedistricts

By Home for Human Rights

Introduction and background19

The estimated number of female ex-combatants, inSri Lanka post-war, is over 3000 and the reintegrationof female ex-combatants into society is a complexissue at many levels. These include at community,region and national level as well as economically,socially and culturally.20 The lack of employment andeducation, which impacts on their ability to live anormal life, is the main concern. Employers arereluctant to hire rehabilitated ex-combatants. Theyare not considered normal women because theywere part of the LTTE and are perceived to be troublemakers.21 Additionally, at a socio-cultural level,marriage options for female ex-combatants areproblematic in conservative Tamil society.

The role of these women as combatant has challenged their traditional positioning andfunction in Tamil society. Hence when they attempt to reintegrate they are perceived to betransgressors and misfits and they are unable to effectively reintegrate into post war Tamilsociety. These women therefore face discrimination in both public and private spheres.Society at large rejects them on the basis that they took up arms and fought alongside withmen shattering the view that women are submissive, and their role was mainly that of wivesand mothers.22 However the change to their very identities is often underestimated,19 This sections also draws from Female ex-combatants of Sri Lanka: A Literature Review, Home for Human Rights, 2013(unpublished)20 DushiyanthiniKanagasabapathipillai, Post-war Sri Lanka denies rights of women ex-combatants, online.MsDushiYanthiniKanagasabapathipillaiis a journalist since 20 years in Sri Lanka. She was the first Tamil woman journalist inSri Lanka who is able travel on her own to the war zone.21 Valkyrie (contributor to the ground views website), Female ex-combatants of LTTE in post-war Sri Lanka February 2012online: .22 Video Female ex-combatants of LTTE in post-war Sri Lanka, online: .

The role of these women ascombatant has challengedtheir traditional positioningand function in Tamilsociety. Hence when theyattempt to reintegrate theyare perceived to betransgressors and misfitsand they are unable toeffectively reintegrate intopost war Tamil society.

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unacknowledged and considered in very limitedways.23

The trauma the ex-combatants have faced cannot bediscounted. Years of war have resulted in traumasuch as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD),adjustment disorders, depression, and somatization.It is crucial that government pays attention to thisand that therapy is offered as a part of thereintegration process.24

The main focus of this research study conducted byHHR is to identify the ground situation of the femaleex-combatants who were reintegrated after therehabilitation process.

After the end of war in 2009, many LTTE memberssurrendered, and were subsequently transferred todetention centres and Protective Accommodationand Rehabilitation Centres (PARCs)25. Theyparticipated in various activities such as adult literacyclasses and technical and vocational training, which were done to improve the ex-LTTEcaders skill sets, thereby providing them with greater opportunities for reintegration.26According to the Minister for Prisons Reforms and Rehabilitation, only 700 ex-combatants of11,000 remain in the rehabilitation centres. Of these, 3,000 were estimated to be women.

Generally speaking, Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) processes mainlyfocused on male combatants who played active military roles. This approach neglectsthe complex roles that women played during the war. The roles, experiences and theempowerment of the female ex-combatants need to be discussed and compared within thecurrent context.

Even after the rehabilitation process, we found, the women are both afraid and unable tospeak openly to their family or community members. The women were sent back totheir societies in which the traditional norms and values remained the same. This putsfemale ex-combatants in a vulnerable position. They are faced with a variety of rightsviolations such as the restriction to freedom of movement, domestic violence, sexualharassments and military surveillance.

This chapter draws from a study undertaken by the Home for Human Rights (HHR)27 with23 The Social Architects South Asia,Haunted By Her Yesterdays, March 2013 .24 Ruwan M. Jayatunge, Psychosocial Rehabilitation Of The War Affected Sri Lankan Combat Veterans (2013) ColomboTelegraph25 PARCs were situated in Welikanda, Poonthoddam, Nelukkulam Technical Centre, where ex-combatants were transferredfor rehabilitation.26 The speech delivered by Brig.D.D.U.K. Hettiarrachchi RSPUSP psc on Reintegration of ex-combatants and challenges27 Home for Human Rights is an Organization committed to promote the culture of human rights in Sri Lanka; by

The women were sentback to their societies inwhich the traditionalnorms and valuesremained the same. Thisputs female ex-combatantsin a vulnerable position.They are faced with a varietyof rights violations such asthe restriction to freedomof movement, domesticviolence, sexual harassmentsand military surveillance

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the aim of improving the understanding of the diverse challenges that female ex-combatants face in post-war Sri Lanka. The study used a review of secondary information, asurvey and focus group discussions to collect information.

These methods were used to evaluate the situation of the female ex-combatants in eightdistricts. Due to security concerns the respondents were selected through HHRs network.The rehabilitated female ex-combatants did not want give/face to face interviews to avoidharassment from military personnel. Therefore data collectors identified the personswho were willing to face the interview. 128 rehabilitated female ex-combatants from 8districts - Jaffna, Mannar, Killinochchi, Mullaitheivu, Vavuniya, Batticaloa, Akkaraipattu,Trincomalee were interviewed.

Populations in the North and East continue to face difficulties related to employment,displacement, militarization, disappearances and the rule of law. Ex-LTTE cadres, especiallywomen, are particularly vulnerable in these regions. Great strides, in development, havebeen taken in some areas, in post war Sri Lanka, and infrastructure is the most commonexample cited. However, such an approach is limiting.

Following the rehabilitation programmes, women are sent back to their formercommunities, trained in a new set of skills. They are not supported to use the skillsacquired through their experience as cadre in a range of areas i.e. construction, driving,administration, etc.28 Instead female ex-cadre have been forced to return to their moretraditional roles within their respective communities and this has created a mismatchbetween acquired skills and existing experiences.29

1. Findings

2.1 Women and securityRight to equality essentially substantive equality is a necessity in order to enjoy rightswithout any barriers/restrictions. Therefore the reintegrated female ex-combatants requireaffirmative action and services to allow them the possibility of enjoying all the entitlementsof citizenship without discrimination.

working towards fostering democratic principles and values and advocating for individuals who face discriminationagainst.HHR is a Charitable Trust and works all over Sri Lanka with a special focus with regard to conflict-affectedpopulations. Home for Human Rights began as an informal association of three lawyers in the North in reaction to the1977 communal riots. It is one of the first legal aid clinics to support victims and survivors of the ongoinginternal conflict by providing evidence on the violations perpetrated by state actors to the governments Sansoniccommission. By 1991 HHR became a Charitable Trust with a mission to preserve, protect and preventviolations of human rights in Sri Lanka based on the UN covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural rights and onCivil and Political Rights. HHR has now expanded to include the following programs: Legal Defence (LD), Investigationsand Documentation (ID), Womens Desk (WD), Exploring Human Rights and Norms (EHRN) within the internal conflict.These programs are delivered through the national office based in Colombo and branch offices situated in Jaffna, Mannar,Vavuniya, Killinochchi, Mullaitheivu, Akkaraipattu, Batticaloa and Hatton.28 Female ex-combatants of LTTE in post war of Sri Lanka By Shamila in Groundviews.http://groundviews.org/2012/02/24/female-ex-combatants-of-ltte-in-post-war-sri-lanka/ (Last accessed on May 17,2013)29 Subramaniam Sivakamy alias Thamilini becomes a free bird By D.B.S.Jeyaraj in Daily Mirror Saturday, 6th July2013.:http://www.dailymirror.lk/opinion/dbsjeyaraj-column/31628-subramaniam-sivakamy-alias- thamilini-becomes-a-free-birdn.html(Last accessed on July 6,2013)