Campaigning for the 'Protection Rights' of Children in Sri Lanka

Abstract

For more than a decade, the cause of children who are exploited and abused has been championed by Senior Ashoka Fellow Prof. Harendra de Silva whose term as the Chairman of the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) has just ended. His success in pursuing the perpetrators of these heinous crimes has resulted in widespread awareness among the public on child abuse resulting in the prompt reporting of abuse cases. The perpetrators range from foreign paedophiles, School Teachers/ School Principles, Clergy, to the uncle next door or the parents. Child abuse and exploitation cover a range of crimes that violate the basic human rights of children, which include child labour, torture and cruel treatment, rape, incest, domestic violence, trafficking, abduction and sale of children, slavery, child prostitution, child pornography and other unlawful sexual practices.