The former president Chandrika Kumaratunge this week acknowledged that Tamil war widows continued to face sexual exploitation from those in power, including by army officers and local government servants.
“There is a lot of sexual abuse still going on by officials, even Tamil officials and even at lower levels, the grama sevakas,” Ms Kumaratunge told Sri Lanka’s Foreign Correspondents’ Association.
“Even to sign a document, they abuse the women and of course some people in the (armed) forces” continue to commit sexual abuse," she added.
Despite the lack of adequate psychological support for Tamil survivors of the war Ms Kumaratunge rejected bringing in counsellors from abroad saying, "we cannot bring counsellors from abroad because they won’t know the language."