‘Car-free’ Sunday sparks debate on safety of women | Sunday Observer

‘Car-free’ Sunday sparks debate on safety of women

14 July, 2019

Colombo Mayor Rosy Senanayake is set to take steps to tackle sexual harassment against women in streets after her proposal for a ‘car-free Sunday met with a furious backlash from many Social Media users.

The Colombo Mayor and Dutch Ambassador to Sri Lanka Joanne Doornewaard embarked on the project last week after the latter cycled to the Colombo Municipal Council to discuss the proposal. The car-free Sunday begins today.

However, the move sparked a debate whether walking on streets is really a pleasing task for women in Sri Lanka with a tweet by a senior Journalist Marianne David.

Reflecting on this journalist David tweeted, “No, I will not support car-free Colombo. I can barely walk 100 metres without some sick pervert or inbred idiot saying something perverted or stupid or making some strangled sound, a meow. So no car-free Colombo for me, thanks.”

Her tweet did not sit well with few including retired Navy rear admiral Mohan Wijewickrama who demanded David to leave the country and questioned what her ‘ulterior motive’ was by making such a comment.

Viyathmaga, a think tank affiliated to former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa tweeted, “This is embarrassing your country before the world,” Defending David many shared encounters with sexual harassers on streets. A victim of sexual harassment said men ‘groped’ her in the bus even when she was in school uniform. Another said men in uniform would harass her on streets. A man shared his wife’s harrowing experience of being groped by passersby in three-wheelers or catcalled.

Some went on to question if Wijewickrama and Viyathmaga were suggesting women to be silent about their daily sexual harassment encounters. Another journalist, Vidya Balachander tweeted “It is impossible to walk on roads in Colombo without a teenager cat-calling you or youth making lewd remarks.

It was in this backdrop that Mayor Senanayake’s office stated that the issue has to be addressed urgently. “Clearly it’s something that needs a sustained effort,” the Mayor’s office said.

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