Sri Lanka Police refutes claims of discrimination against female officers

Sri Lanka Police, in a statement, have strongly denied the claims of discrimination against female officers in the organization.

The statement stressed that following a decision taken by the government to reserve 15 percent of approved positions in public institutions for women, Sri Lanka Police has already taken necessary measures to reserve 15 percent of the organization’s posts for female officers.

Sri Lanka Police refuted the allegations levelled in recent social media posts that female police officers have been subjected to acts of vengeance.

In 2019, Sri Lanka Police had submitted a proposal to increase female representation in the organization by creating 01 Senior Deputy Inspector General (DIG) post, 04 DIG posts and 12 Superintendent of Police (SSP) posts, the statement went on to say.

These remarks came after a Fundamental Rights (FR) petition filed by 32 Senior Superintendents of Police (SSP), including SSP Ruwan Gunasekera, sparked controversy recently.

Petition sought annulment of the promotion of Bimshani Jasin Arachchi, Sri Lanka’s first female Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG). She had received the promotion in October last year.

Petitioners claimed that no female police officer in the country can be appointed as the DIG of Police as the word ‘women’ is not mentioned in the regulations pertaining to promotions.