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Rape and abuse of Tamil widows in North-East still met with impunity

In a report released today, the Agence France Presse (AFP) outlined extensive threat of rape and abuse that Tamil widows faced in the North-East.


The South Asia expert for the London based Minority Rights Group international (MRG), Farah Mihlar, outlined that Tamil women in the North-East felt threatened from other ethnic groups, many of whom are from the Sinhalese majority that were flooding into the North-East.

Describing the effects of abuse, triumphalism and impunity she said,


“Even four years after the war there is still a strong sense of triumphalism, a feeling that  ‘we have won the war, so we can do whatever we want,”

“There is no justice in the former conflict areas. There is not a single case of a military person being prosecuted for sexual violence against women since the war ended.”

“As a result women find it pointless and dangerous to complain as doing so exposes them and only puts them under threat. The perpetrators continue to roam among them, which is extremely threatening and frightening for most women.

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