With one in every five women of reproductive age facing domestic violence in Sri Lanka, the Health Ministry stressed that domestic violence should be considered and responded to as a public health issue rather than a personal matter.

Noting this, the Ministry’s Family Health Bureau’s specialist Dr. Dinusha Perera explained that despite the common notion that domestic violence should be tolerated as a mere family issue, it should not be tolerated due to its far-reaching impacts, which make it a public health concern. She discussed this during a press briefing held yesterday (25) by the Health Promotion Bureau, where it was emphasised that globally, one in every three persons has faced harassment at the hands of their intimate partner at some point in their life.

Dr. Perera added that the health sector provides several types of services including those provided through the ‘Mithuru Piyasa’ service to victims of domestic violence cases, which at times involve getting in touch with the perpetrators and assisting children as well. She said that the response should be such a holistic one.

In 2023 alone, such services have been provided to 12,198 victims, which Dr. Perera noted, shows the number of families dealing with this issue. She highlighted that around 91% of the victims that have sought these services are women, while men constitute around 8-9% and persons of other gender identities constitute around 0.5%.