33 Countries of Origin’ Profiles

SRI LANKA from manual labour to engineering. Within the home, regardless of their engagement in paid labour, women and girls do all food preparation and most other domestic work. Leadership roles in Sri Lanka are largely held by men, with some important exceptions. Sri Lanka elected the world's first female prime minister in 1960, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, whose daughter is the current president of the nation. While this is not indicative of the political power of women in general, Sri Lankan women have held voting rights since 1931 and have long held certain property rights. Most religious leaders and officiants are also male, while women tend to be overrepresented among their followers. The status of women is relatively high in Sri Lanka, especially in comparison to other South Asian nations. There has never been the practice of child marriage or the burning of widows in Sri Lanka. Even though most groups on the island prefer for new brides to move into their husbands' homes, women traditionally retain strong ties with their own natal families. Additionally, although it is expected among most groups for the bride's family to give the groom a dowry, in practice this property commonly remains in the possession of the wife until she passes it on, typically to her daughters. Despite these traditional practices and the full rights of citizenship that women in Sri Lanka enjoy today, women consistently defer to men across all domains of life, including the workplace and the home. Women also bear the greater weight of social expectations and sanctions for noncompliance. In addition, sexual harassment and assault, while seldom reported to the authorities, are common experiences 13 . GBV: Violence against women is widespread in Sri Lanka. Incidences of rape, sexual harassment, domestic violence, incest, assault, obscenity against women, unwanted advances, perverted acts, forced pornography, forced prostitution and media violence are prevalent in Sri Lankan society. These issues receive attention from diverse sectors, the State, non-government sector and civil society, which address preventive measures and provide redress for victims. Despite this attention, violence against women continues to 1 3 http://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/Sri-Lanka.html