Abused women share stories in bid to win justice

ASIAN women who have endured beatings, rape and other abuse with little hope of justice shared their stories yesterday before a symbolic court that pledged to take into political action.

Gathered in an auditorium in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka some of the dozen ‘witnesses’ cried inconsolably as they spoke to an all-woman jury that included South Africa’s Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

One woman, Sri Lankan Inoka Priyangani, told of how she travelled to Kuwait to work as a maid and send money to her family back home. Soon after she reached the oil-rich emirate, she was gang-raped.

She said she sneaked away and reported her case to the Sri Lankan embassy, which, instead of helping her, handed her back over to the man who brought her to Kuwait.

“They kept me in custody and beat me up so I would sign a paper saying I was working in that house willingly. I signed it, because if I didn’t they threatened to kill me,” Ms Priyangani told an audience of 1,500 women.

Her husband got her home with the help of a Sri Lankan MP. But once she was back, doctors told her she was two months pregnant and infected with a sexually transmitted disease.

“This court should not be a mockery of justice, but (should) help to find a common solution in dealing with trafficking of women and children,” Ms Madikizela-Mandela said.

She described trafficking as worse than slavery and apartheid experienced by South Africa. “Why do governments turn a blind eye to these incidents and even collude in some cases with law enforcers?” she asked.