Our religion and our culture have never undermined them, but what we fear is that too much freedom, and unrestricted emancipation might lead to the destruction of our traditional family set-up, we don't like to see our families break up. The teacher was listening in at a community meeting where the Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka provided information on gender equity and women's rights. Although part of the goal of the Association's community meetings is to open up for discussions, this goal rarely needs input. Debates usually follow whether the Association's facilitator stays or leaves. Since 1997, the Association has held community meetings and participated in discussions in 25 communities around Sri Lanka on gender and women's issues.
Attitudinal change takes a long time.
Judging from initial reactions, it is not impossible to change people's perception of social roles and responsibilities. If, as you say, women's equity and empowerment is aimed at enhancing their knowledge, skills, and capabilities, then we are sure families will have a better and brighter future. The reality is, unfortunately, that many women are subjected to domestic violence, often both physical and psychological. The baseline-survey for the Mahila Shanti project indicated that the majority of people felt that women should be treated equally. However, once the volunteers had established personal contacts and were let in on 'family secrets', they found that both physical and psychological violence and abuse were taking place.