Women who have lost male members of their households during the war are being forced to turn to prostitution, according to women’s rights activists in Colombo.

Geetha Lakmini of World Fisherfolk Solidarity Movement told reporters that,

"One village in Madhu area is infamous for prostitution because they have no male family members, no jobs and there is no other way of survival."

"The only way to feed their children is to sell their body."

Speaking after a conference organised by the Women's Movement for Social Justice, the executive director of Viluthu Centre for Human Resource Development, Shantini Satchitananda, also commented on the plight of war widows and the need for accountability, stating,

"They say the reconciliation is a long process. It should go on. It should go on for these women to find out what exactly happen to their husbands, loved ones."

"Accountability is demonstrating to the world that we are human beings.”

Other women’s rights organisations have stated that there are as many as 89,000 widows in the North-East, with 12,000 of them under the age of 40.

See our earlier posts:

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)