Minister of Justice Mr. Ali Sabry told that the government has focused on establishing a court dedicated to adjudicate matters with regard to child abuse.
“We can’t keep on hiding certain matters for long. The impact of child abuse lasts long for a lifetime on someone who has undergone such abuse. These need to be stopped entirely and these matters can’t be under the carpet anymore. We can bring in laws to do the necessary work. We will establish a separate court with cabinet approval to look into these matters. This issue demands such importance.
Most of the time, it’s not a person who goes astray who commit such crimes, but it’s those who are close to children, sometimes it’s a teacher, or someone who has won the trust of that child, who turns out to be the culprit. There were a lot of opinions going around during the last few months. But we have to take a decision on educating children on sex and related matters, after a healthy discussion. We can’t keep these things as secrets anymore”, said Mr. Sabry in a ceremony attended by him in Colombo.
12,968 child abuse cases received over past 18- months. AG’s dept provides update on progress