Sri Lanka’s government plans to activate a stable legal mechanism towards the creation of a safe environment, free from violence for women and girls in Sri Lanka.

The government said a special ministerial sub committee will also be named to ensure the efficient working of such a legal framework.

Recently, The Task Force on the Prevention of Violence against Women and Girls handed in their Action Plan to the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe; the tasks relevant to each Ministry in this regard were also allocated accordingly.

The Prime Minister appointed The Task Force towards the Prevention of Violence against Women and Girls, in May 2015.

A comprehensive report was presented in December 2014 on the topic of prevention of violence against women and girls, prepared by a Special Committee commissioned by the Prime Minister when he was the Opposition Leader.

The Task Force chaired by Prof. Savithri Gunesekera has taken into consideration the contents of that Report in preparing their Action Plan; they have also obtained information and feed back from many stake holders in society and other social groups in this regard.

The Prime Minister has instructed that a mechanism be developed within the next 6 weeks to activate the suggested Action Plan. He further instructed that a monitoring procedure be developed to facilitate the process.