Abstract:
Gender equality is a human right and it shall not be compromised on any ground
whatsoever. Although the laws of Sri Lanka emphasize on gender equality, societies
practice norms that are gender discriminatory. It is reported in the recent publication
of the Law and Society Trust titled ‘Gender Discriminatory Social Norms and their
Impact on the Rights and Freedom of Women’ that many gender discriminatory norms
are practiced in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is evident that creating a women friendly society cannot be realized with practicing the established laws alone. Among
other, the universities shall play a major role in creating a women-friendly environment
by transforming the gender discriminatory social norms. The objectives of the
research are to analyse the activities of the universities in Sri Lanka in general and the
University of Jaffna in particular towards gender affairs, their effectiveness, and provide
recommendations for more effective contributions towards the transformation of gender
discriminatory social norms. The research was a qualitative study whereas the data were
collected through desk analysis of relevant laws, reports on gender discriminatory social
norms, activities of different nature taking place at the universities, and discussions
with stakeholders such as university authorities, community leaders, and university
students. The authors have recognized that many activities that are being conducted
at the universities in Sri Lanka to promote gender equality. It is recommended that the
universities shall in addition to what they do at present, engage in more community
outreach programmes and ensure through surveys and alumni discussions that the
university students are neither the victims nor the perpetrators of gender discrimination
rather contributors to the social change and transformation of gender discriminatory
social norms.
