Leaflets warning women to quit working for Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have been circulated across the eastern coast, after pornographic DVDs involving some female NGO workers surfaced last week.
Akkaraipattu Police Inspector A. Gaffar told the Daily Mirror one DVD contains explicit video clips of a foreigner sexually abusing a 19-20 year old Tamil girl. The DVD apparently contains shots taken in the Elle area in Badulla. The DVDs are available for Rs. 50 in open markets across the Eastern province.
The leaflets, distributed by an organisation calling itself the Tamil Eelam Women’s Uprising Army, warned all women working in NGOs to quit their jobs before April 15. The warning states that “your future life may be endangered” if this directive is not obeyed.
However, it has not yet been proved whether the foreigner or the girl in the pornographic DVD are employees of an NGO operating in the Ampara, Akkraipattu or Kalmunai areas, reported the Daily Mirror. However, Mr. Gaffar said investigations have not yet been completed in Trincomalee or Batticaloa.
The leaflet also quotes a statement made by the Batticaloa Tamil National Alliance MP Pakkiaselvam Ariyanenthiran which states that “183 Tamil speaking girls in Batticaloa and 163 in Ampara district have undergone abortions,” and that these women were “employees of NGOs”. This statement was made at a recent seminar on “Tamil women and culture” in Pawattan Thirukkovil.
The leaflet claims that “women working in NGOs are sexually abused” and that “in some cases where the abortions were not successful, they are on the verge of giving birth”. It also claims that parents who allow their daughters to work for NGOs should be held responsible for these supposed atrocities.
NGO sources also said two mosques in Kalmunai and Saindamaradu had publicly requested women to leave the NGOs. However, the Police did not corroborate this statement.
No complaints on sexual harassments have been recorded in the Akkraipattu, Kalmunai or Ampara Police divisions. Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA) Executive Director Jeevan Thiagarajah noted that a joint plea has been forwarded to Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, IGP Chandra Fernando and the DIG East asking for protection for female NGO workers in the region.
LTTE Batticaloa head Daya Mohan said the LTTE was unaware of such an organisation that was said to have issued the threatening leaflets.
Akkaraipattu Police Inspector A. Gaffar told the Daily Mirror one DVD contains explicit video clips of a foreigner sexually abusing a 19-20 year old Tamil girl. The DVD apparently contains shots taken in the Elle area in Badulla. The DVDs are available for Rs. 50 in open markets across the Eastern province.
The leaflets, distributed by an organisation calling itself the Tamil Eelam Women’s Uprising Army, warned all women working in NGOs to quit their jobs before April 15. The warning states that “your future life may be endangered” if this directive is not obeyed.
However, it has not yet been proved whether the foreigner or the girl in the pornographic DVD are employees of an NGO operating in the Ampara, Akkraipattu or Kalmunai areas, reported the Daily Mirror. However, Mr. Gaffar said investigations have not yet been completed in Trincomalee or Batticaloa.
The leaflet also quotes a statement made by the Batticaloa Tamil National Alliance MP Pakkiaselvam Ariyanenthiran which states that “183 Tamil speaking girls in Batticaloa and 163 in Ampara district have undergone abortions,” and that these women were “employees of NGOs”. This statement was made at a recent seminar on “Tamil women and culture” in Pawattan Thirukkovil.
The leaflet claims that “women working in NGOs are sexually abused” and that “in some cases where the abortions were not successful, they are on the verge of giving birth”. It also claims that parents who allow their daughters to work for NGOs should be held responsible for these supposed atrocities.
NGO sources also said two mosques in Kalmunai and Saindamaradu had publicly requested women to leave the NGOs. However, the Police did not corroborate this statement.
No complaints on sexual harassments have been recorded in the Akkraipattu, Kalmunai or Ampara Police divisions. Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA) Executive Director Jeevan Thiagarajah noted that a joint plea has been forwarded to Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, IGP Chandra Fernando and the DIG East asking for protection for female NGO workers in the region.
LTTE Batticaloa head Daya Mohan said the LTTE was unaware of such an organisation that was said to have issued the threatening leaflets.
