“It isn’t for women”. This is a line is all too familiar to many young women and girls, who are raised to believe that certain career paths just ‘aren’t suitable’ for them. They are taught at a tender age to colour their lives pink while basking in the fantasy of wedding days and magical recipes; all the while leaving behind dreams of embarking upon “tougher” and untrodden career paths, such as the police. This holds especially true in our region, where women are actively discouraged from pursuing a life of crime-fighting and upholding the law, as patriarchal attitudes dictate that we should let men be the country’s “saviours”. A prime example of such archaic workplace gender discrimination is currently unfolding in Sri Lanka.
Bimshani Jasin Arachchi joined the Sri Lankan police force back in 1997 as an IP (Inspector Police). Three years later, she applied for a promotion to the position of ASP (Assistant Superintendent Police). She sat the examinations, she aced the interviews, and yet she proved unsuccessful. Why? Because her height fell a few inches short of mandatory requirements. Determined not to give up, she challenged this in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, only to have to wait till 2016 for a ruling in her favour and finally realise her promotion. Between 2016-2019, she rose from IP to ASP to SP (Superintendent Police) to SSP (Senior Superintendent Police), and then last September, to the post of DIG (Deputy Inspector General Police).
This new and incredibly powerful assignment immediately tilted the narrative surrounding career prospects for women within the country’s national police force. For, suddenly, there was renewed hope that even girls could climb that rickety ladder and smash that glass ceiling based on merit and capability. Bimshani was already a role model for those who followed her work with the ‘Bureau for the Prevention of Abuse of Children and Women’. Now, there was hope that others could follow the path that she had paved through sheer determination and hard work.
Sri Lanka’ first-ever woman DIG has been removed from her post. A group of 33 male SSPs filed a fundamental rights petition stating that the decision to appoint her was illegal since the word ‘women’ is not mentioned in the regulations pertaining to this position
But it was not to be. Last week, Sri Lanka’ first-ever woman DIG was removed from her post as a result of a controversy that had been brewing since February this year. A group of 33 male SSPs had filed a fundamental rights petition stating that the decision to appoint her was illegal on two grounds. Firstly, the word ‘women’ is not mentioned in the regulations pertaining to this position, and secondly, she fell below the minimum height of 5ft 6 inches.
Sri Lanka is Asia’s oldest democracy and provided universal suffrage back in 1931, making it the first on the continent to give women the right to vote. And when Sirimavo Bandaranaike was elected Prime Minister in 1960 – she made history by becoming the world’s first female elected head of government. How is it, then, that after having set such marvelous precedents, Sri Lanka is failing women in the workplace in 2021?
It is interesting to see how certain sections of the Sri Lankan youth approach such issues, and debate whether workplace gender discrimination is a myth or not. Recently, owing to several viral videos on Sri Lankan Social Media, we saw a very conservative mindset being peddled by a young woman who believed with all her heart that gender discrimination in the work place simply doesn’t exist in the country. Her take on feminism was summarised as follows: “women should not constantly victimise themselves and should try to gain positions based on merit as opposed to falling within specific quotas designed to help them.” Her position was countered in a response-video by a young man who has a large social media presence. He proceeded to debunk her arguments point-by-point. However, the woman essentially became a martyr for her ideals because the man chose to attack her personally, instead of engaging only with her opinions. Where do we therefore draw the line in the discussion on gender discrimination and equality opportunity? Is there an effective method and manner to adopt, to ensure that it does not all descend into “white noise”, and where the crux of the matter itself is lost?
Many believe that the case of the police force appointment is also one of legality, and not discrimination. And for a country who has signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), one would hope that this matter is resolved with a positive outcome for girls everywhere. After all, it is their right to be able to dream without limits, without fear that what they want to do remains out of reach.
The writer is a lawyer and teacher based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. She writes for the Sri Lanka-based “The Morning” newspaper and tweets @writergirl_11