3 children raped daily in Sri Lanka

At least three children are raped in Sri Lanka each day, indicating that the incidence of sexual assault of minors is escalating.

Statistics available at Police Headquarters reveal that 480 cases of child rape were reported between January and June this year, while 925 such cases were reported last year. An officer at Police HQ said Ratnapura district had the country’s highest number of child rape cases – 79 in 2009, and 47 in the first six months of this year.

“A lack of parental care, attention and supervision is one major reason children get sexually abused, and in most cases the wrongdoer is a close relative of the victim,” the Police officer said. “Going by the number of cases reported to the Police, it would seem that girls in the 14-to-16 age group are becoming regular targets for rape.”

The officer added that the number of rape cases that go unreported may be much greater than the number that gets reported.

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