Archive

Letter from Sri Lanka.

Kate Waldock has helped to organise a five-day training programme that aims to encourage dialogue and information exchange about child protection between child care professionals.

Child protection services in Sri Lanka are inadequate and inconsistent. This is caused not least by a poor economy, the conflict in the north and east, and ethnic differences between colleagues. Also, police have a reputation for institutional corruption, violence and incompetence.

Set up in June 1998, the National Child Protection Authority is a government body supervised by Sri Lanka's president, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. The NCPA was set up to address the nation's growing concerns about the lack of protection available to its children. Its mandate ranges from advising the government on national policy, co-ordinating awareness campaigns, the education of child care workers and the investigation of child protection allegations.

The NCPA works with the police and health service. One difficulty is the public perception of police officers. They are generally considered to be uneducated. A reluctance to work alongside them has led to a breakdown in child abuse investigations.

I have been based at the NCPA since March 2000. My role, as child protection trainer, has included helping to develop guidelines and national policy for video interviewing of abused or maltreated children. The next stage is to encourage dialogue and information exchange between child care professionals.

Through the NCPA and the British High Commission, a five-day training programme addressing local training needs was organised in which psychiatrists, psychologists, counsellors and police took part. It aimed to bring together people who are working at grass roots level in Sri Lanka with professionals of experience who could share and develop skills.

Five trainers from Bristol, England - part of a health trust team working with adolescents suffering from severe mental heath difficulties - were invited to carry out the programme. The training covered topics such as working with paedophiles, community safety and prevention, supervision and networking, psychiatric assessment, and various therapeutic approaches.

There was resentment from some doctors and psychologists. They felt police were having to attend a programme that was beyond their educational capacity. Despite this, police officers' confidence increased, partly because of positive feedback from the trainers and possibly partly because of their feelings of self-worth at being included in "important" training. Visiting foreign trainers are valued highly in Sri Lanka and inclusion is prized.

Interestingly, it was felt that the high social status that comes from being a health professional in Sri Lanka often intimidated clients and prevented disclosure, as it is not polite to talk of abuse in detail to someone of that stature. Police officers' experience and understanding of the reality of clients' lives meant victims were often more comfortable talking with officers whom they felt understood their situations better.

The peace process in Sri Lanka is still at an early stage but Sri Lankans are cautiously hopeful of success. The emergence of new partnerships in all areas of people's lives is welcomed with the view that this will be positive for the care, treatment and investigations provided for child victims of abuse.

Kate Waldock is a social worker and a VSO volunteer in Sri Lanka.

Background

- The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (formerly Serendib, Ceylon) covers 65,610 squre kilometres - about a quarter of the size of the UK - and has a population of 19.4 million.

- Ethnic groups: Sinhalese 74 per cent; Tamil 18 per cent; Moor 7 per cent; Burgher, Malay and Vedda 1 per cent.

- Languages: Sinhala (official and national language) 74 per cent; Tamil (national language) 18 per cent.

- A civil war has raged between the government and armed Tamil separatists since 1983. By mid-1999, about 66,000 were housed in refugee camps in south India; more than 200,000 Tamils have sought refuge in the West.