The increasing number of sexual assaults is causing concern amongst tourists, with rapes in Sri Lanka reported to occur 5 times each day.
Last week, a 25-year old German was attacked in broad daylight while sunbathing on a beach in Chilaw. She managed to escape after kicking the would-be rapist and fleeing into a hotel. A 28-year old suspect was arrested.
A European gender consultant in Sri Lanka told the Sunday Times that several European tourists complain of sexual harassment, but do not report it to the police.
“A white girlfriend was really shocked and angered after a man on a motorbike grabbed her breasts outside her apartment and a lot of my friends get routinely stopped on the street and accused of prostitution for merely being a white female,” she said.
She added that while the increasing incidents of rape were horrendous and sickening, the incidents were examples of how Sri Lanka ignores and accepts violence against women across the country.
“This would be the same with foreign women as most men here assume that white women are there solely for their pleasure.”
The paper cites several incidents of tourists raped on the island.
In 2011, a British national was murdered while his Russian girlfriend was raped by a group led by a local politician. A South African tourist is reported to have been raped by hotel employees, while there were attempted rapes against a Dutch tourist and a woman from New Zealand.
According to statistics from the Sri Lanka Tourist Development Authority, tourists from Western Europe make up the highest number of visitors to the island in 2011 and 2012. Last year, 373,063 had arrived in the country with the vast majority from Britain, Germany and France.
Tourist Hotels Association Past President Srilal Miththapala attempted to explain the “culture” of rape.
“There are huge cultural differences and people in the areas [that] still believe that white skin means promiscuity, especially because of their independence, attire and body language,” he said.
