The Parliamentary Caucus for Children Chaired by Ms. Rohini Kumari Wijerathna which met recently in Parliament directed its attention towards the Reproductive Health and Sexuality Education of school Children and Cyber Violence Against Children in Sri Lanka.
The officials present stated that educating school children of Sri Lanka regarding Reproductive Health and Sexuality Education is initially aimed at being carried out online through modes of new media. The Chair of the Caucus – Mrs. Rohini Kumari Wijerathna, commending officials of their efforts, stated that the Caucus wishes to launch this initiative by October officially.
The Caucus also discussed the need to create content pertaining to Reproductive Health and Sexuality Education for the purpose of catering to different categories and groups in the society for better understanding.
The Caucus also looked into the spread of drugs among children and the rights of children.
The Caucus also looked into re-introducing the complaint box kept in all schools where children can submit their concerns incognito. The Caucus further discussed to make aware of children on 1929 hotline service.
The Caucus also looked into the current context and the application of laws pertaining to Cyber Violence Against Children in Sri Lanka. The Caucus expressed that the Cyber Security Bill is in the draft stage and for the officials to submit their recommendations and observations accordingly.
The Caucus also looked into the harassment against children online and the existing measures to take action against such harassment. It was also disclosed that there are many child pornography sites, Facebook pages including other social media platforms with harassing comments against children which is concerning.
Moreover, the need for a proper Media policy in place was highlighted as many media reports on cases pertaining to children are been reported in a very unethical and an insensitive manner.
Leader of the Opposition – Sajith Premadasa, Deputy Co-Chair of the Caucus – Velu Kumar, Dr. V. Radhakrishnan, Eran Wickramaratne, Ms. Thalatha Athukorala were present at the Committee meeting held.
