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Complain to Police or my ministry: Piyal Nishantha

29 Jun 2021

  • Women’s State Minister urges female journalists to come forward

  • Police can rely on reliable social media source: Prof. Prathiba Mahanamahewa

  • No investigation until formal complaint: Keheliya

By Dinitha Rathnayake   State Minister of Women and Child Development, Preschools and Primary Education, School Infrastructure, and Education Services Piyal Nishantha De Silva invited female journalists to report incidents of workplace sexual harassment to either the Police or to his State Ministry. “If female journalists are facing such harassment, we need to take immediate action against it, and I request the journalists to, therefore, lodge a complaint. However, if someone is not willing to go to the Police, they can come forward and report about such incidents to our State Ministry, so that we can take all possible measures,” he told The Morning yesterday (29). Multiple female journalists took to social media recently to share their experiences in a manner reminiscent of the international #MeToo movement which began in 2017 in Hollywood, the US cinema industry. Underscoring the importance of having a proper programme to resolve issues related to workplace sexual harassment faced by females, De Silva said his State Ministry would encourage women in workplaces, especially journalists, to come forward against these harassments. However, he added that not all media institutions and those who work for them are of the mentality of harassing women. “Most of the media institutions support female journalists and try to support and encourage them. But there may be a few people and institutions that are involved in these issues, and therefore our State Ministry would always support the journalists who need our support,” he added. De Silva also claimed that it is a responsibility on the part of women to take action to prevent these types of issues by maintaining good discipline. Meanwhile, Jamaican Technology University Dean of the Law Faculty Prof. Prathiba Mahanamahewa said journalists who went through such harassments have few options to take action against these incidents. “If they can appear in person, they can lodge a complaint regarding the incident with the Child and Women’s Bureau. If it is online harassment, the Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team (SLCERT) is there to help. If the person doesn’t want to appear in person, they can lodge a complaint with the police website, or the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka would be able to be involved with a motion. If not, the Assistance to and Protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses Act No. 4 of 2015 would also help in this situation.” When queried about the making and releasing of online statements related to allegations of workplace sexual harassment faced by female journalists at media institutions, Prof. Mahanamahewa said that if there is a reliable source, the Police could investigate the issued raised in these statements without a formal complaint. However, he suggested having a digital ombudsman’s unit which would help to solve these issues in the future. Meanwhile, Minister of Mass Media Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters yesterday that his Ministry will not launch an investigation based on social media allegations of sexual harassment in media institutions. He said that if there is such an incident, then a complaint must be made with the Police or the Media Ministry. He added that launching an investigation into any media institution without a formal complaint will be seen as interfering in the media. Last week, Rambukwella stated at the cabinet press that he was not aware of the allegations made by female journalists on social media of sexual harassment at media institutions. Police Media Spokesman Senior DIG Ajith Rohana was not available for comment on this matter.

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