ASIA/SRI LANKA - Increased roll of women as head of the family in north

Jaffna (Agenzia Fides) – Fifteen months after the end of fighting between Sri Lankan government forces and the Tamil Tigers, women in the north are taking up a new and challenging role as breadwinners - with more and more becoming day laborers to support their families. A survey conducted by the Jaffna-based Center for Women and Development, a non-profit group, revealed that the northern region had approximately 40,000 female-headed households - including more than 20,000 in Jaffna District. The Sri Lankan civil war, which began in the 1970s, claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 280,000 people and left some 89,000 war widows, mainly in the northern and eastern parts of the country. “This has drastically altered their livelihood options. Over 50 percent of them women who head households are single parents under 30 years of age supporting their own and extended families," said Visaka Dharmadasa, executive director of the Association for War-Affected Women (AWAW). AWAW and other support groups say many employers are discriminating against women, in some cases paying less than $1 USD a day. Government security restrictions on traditional occupations - such as fishing and farming, the main industries of the north - have also driven women to work. Women report to work on time. They do not drink and provide cheap labor. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 11/09/2010)