Tens of thousands of Tamil war widows in the North-East are still struggling to make ends meet, almost six years since the end of the armed conflict on the island, reports IRIN news.
“It has been hard, very hard,” said 39 year old widow Yogeshwari Ramalingam from Mullaitivu. “I thought the war was the nightmare. Peace has been equally scary.”
Roopavathi Ketheeswaran, a public official in Kilinochchi told IRIN news that the issue of war widows “has remained a huge problem since the end of the war”, with reports of up to 89,000 widows across the North-East.
Though the Sri Lankan government has set up a centre to “to look after the needs” of widows, the issues if insecurity and unemployment still trouble the region.
Female unemployment rates remain markedly higher in the North than in the rest of the island, reaching 10.9 percent in Jaffna, 29.4 percent in Kilinochchi, 21.6 percent in Mannar, 20.5 percent in Mullaitivu and 9.0 percent in Vavuniya.
Also see our earlier posts:
Sri Lanka: Widows of War (24 April 2015)
UN Security Council report notes increased sexual violence against Tamils in Sri Lanka post-conflict (15 April 2015)
Rape and abuse of Tamil widows in North-East still met with impunity (13 Dec 2013)
Just one story… (27 May 2012)
Tamil war widows ‘forced into prostitution to feed children’ (18 March 2012)
Sexual abuse rapidly escalates in Jaffna (10 March 2012)
Sexual violence as a weapon of war destroys 'fabric of society' (21 Feb 2012)
State of denial (08 Jan 2012)
ICG - militarised North-East leading to women's insecurity (20 Dec 2011)
89,000 war widows in North-East (14 Dec 2011)
Haitian lawyers condemn impunity for Sri Lankan soldiers (11 Sep 2011)
Plight of Sri Lanka's war widows (24 Dec 2008)
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