Who protects the vulnerable? Reframing role of Police in preventing gendered harassment in Sri Lanka

IN Sri Lanka, the word protection carries weight. It is a promise embedded in the mandate of State institutions, especially the Police. It is a word that should evoke safety, trust, and accountability. Yet, for many women and children, especially in vulnerable domestic contexts, protection remains an unfulfilled expectation, marked by inaction, bias, and systemic disregard.

- BY VIDUSHI ALOKA

This raises urgent questions about the role of the Police and women's units in addressing, preventing, and responding to gendered harassment in its early forms.

What we are witnessing is not the absence of law, but the selective application of it. Criminological theory teaches us that early intervention is critical. The "Broken Windows Theory" suggests that if minor acts of social disorder are ignored, more serious crimes will follow. But in Sri Lanka, early signs of harassment peeping, intimidation, psychological manipulation are too often dismissed as private matters or trivial nuisances. This culture of non-response fuels escalation. It is in these early stages, where the harm may not yet be physical, that State intervention is most needed.

Power dynamics at play