Workshop on "Sexual Abuse" held in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 September 2004, 11:35 GMT]
Mr. Chandra Fernando, Deputy Inspector General of Police Saturday addressing a two-day workshop on "Legal process regarding sexual abuse," organized by the Centre for Law and Society in Jaffna Navalar Cultural Hall said members of police force deployed in the northeast should discharge their duties above racial and other differences and stressed cultural sensitivity to be displayed in handling complaints of sexual abuse.

The co-ordinator of the workshop was Mr. Palitha Fernando and the Jaffna District Co-ordinator was Ms Saroja Sivachchandran, Director of Women Development Centre.

"Most police personnel working in the district are from Sinhalese community. This has created several difficulties in discharging their duties. Sinhalese police personnel should learn Tamil language to ease problems in communication. The Department of Police has taken steps to encourage Sinhalese police personnel to learn Tamil," Mr. Chandra Fernando said.

Permanent resolution to the ethnic conflict could be found by overcoming the language barrier between the communities, said Mr. Fernando.

Officers in charge of all police stations in Jaffna district, Jaffna representatives of Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka and civil groups participated in the workshop.