Who is the boss covering up the sexual harassment incident?

The report of the preliminary investigation into the alleged sexual harassment of women in the Information Systems and Management Department has not yet been submitted to the Speaker, parliamentary staff say.

An administrative official in Parliament has suppressed the report, sources said. The administrative official is acting on a policy of protecting the heads of the department where the alleged sexual harassment is taking place, and is delaying the case by transferring the victim officer to another department unrelated to her scope, the sources said.

The delay in submitting the internal report while the Speaker is preparing to refer the incident to an external investigation is a grave injustice to the victim officer, parliamentary staff say. It is learnt that some administrative officials in Parliament are afraid of an external investigation, believing that the weaknesses of the administration will be exposed, and are preventing the external investigation by falsely arguing that internal information will be leaked if an external investigation is conducted. In this situation, the parliamentary staff are requesting the Speaker to refer the incident to an external investigation based on the report of the preliminary investigation currently being conducted. The Colombo District Parliamentarian of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, Mr. Mujibur Rahuman, also presented facts regarding this incident in the Parliament Chamber recently.

Following the investigation conducted into the alleged sexual harassment of some women in the Housekeeping Department of Parliament, it was recently decided to dismiss three employees including its head. The external investigation was conducted by retired High Court Judge Kusala Sarojini Weerawardena. The parliamentary staff further state that if justice is not served to the victimized officer, she has no other option but to seek help from the Supreme Court. It is learnt that a group of parliamentary staff have also recently complained to a number of opposition members regarding this unfair act.

It is reported that the harassment of women in this department has not started since yesterday and that several women have even left the country due to harassment by a previous head of the department.

(Achintha Madura)