Sri Lankan women's groups have also been engaged in an initiative to draft a law on domestic violence. Currently no single law addresses domestic violence. The criminal law can be applied in cases of domestic violence, but this very rarely happens as a matter of practice.
Women's groups have for many years been looking at drafting legislation on this subject. Two models have been looked at. The first model was to amend the criminal law to include domestic violence as an offence. The second approach favoured a separate law which would combine both criminal and civil remedies. About two years ago the Women & Media Collective spearheaded an effort to draft a law on domestic violence. Meetings were held with several constituencies, including medical professionals and activists. Meetings have also been held in different parts of the country with women to discuss the question of domestic violence and what impact a law would have. The draft Sri Lankan law has been modelled largely on the South African legislation, the draft Indian legislation, and the model law proposed by the Special Rapporteur on Violence. The draft law combines civil and remedies in a single Act. It has been circulated among diverse groups and women are currently lobbying the government to bring this law into effect. More information on the draft law and the activism surrounding it could be had from Kumudini Samuel at the Women & Media Collective <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Mario Gomez Fellow Carr Center for Human Rights Policy Harvard University Member, Law Commission of Sri Lanka ***End-violence is sponsored by UNIFEM and receives generous support from ICAP*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe end-violence OR type: unsubscribe end-violence Archives of previous End-violence messages can be found at: http://www.edc.org/GLG/end-violence/hypermail/
