Thank you.
I think the figure of 40,000 is with regard to the female-headed households in the northern province. I think the collective figure for both the north and east is about 90...[Technical difficulty—Editor].
In terms of how this affects the women, I think the first point is with regard to their particular status within society, which has a whole lot of social, cultural, and economic implications.
In terms of their access to resources, there are no special provisions being made for women in particular with regard to rebuilding houses and getting on with their livelihoods looking after children. There are no special provisions that are really being made for them, so that creates a problem.
There is also the question about inheritance of property. There is a raft of issues associated with ownership of land, with the whole question of land that was owned by one particular family that, when they were displaced, was taken over by members of another community. It goes on like that, and that has an obvious impact.
Again, there is no special provision being made to focus in particular on the land issue and to expedite resolution of land conflicts. There have been attempts to come up with land circulars, etc., but they have been weighted very heavily in favour of the central government. In fact, in one case we as an organization went to court to get it struck because we felt it had discriminatory effects.
As far as the women are concerned, they are facing a lot of challenges and hardships in this respect. As I said, because of the cultural inhibitions, the full picture in respect to sexual abuse does not come out. A number of cases, we are told by civil society organizations on the ground, are not being reported.
Most recently there were also allegations, as far as three villages in the Kilinochchi district were concerned, of forced sterilization, of women being given contraceptives without their consent and without their being told what was actually going on. All of these things are happening at the present moment.
I think what is actually required is for there to be an honest acknowledgment of what's going on, so measures can be taken to redress it. By pushing it aside and not acknowledging it, nothing is happening. That, of course, further nurtures frustration, anger, and disappointment.