Page 20 - KDU INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE

KDU International Journal of Criminal Justice (KDUIJCJ)
Volume I | Issue II| July 2024

befriended the retired Police Officer when she was at the first shelter. The
retired Woman Police Officer provided food and accommodation to Lisa.

She looked after her child and she helped Lisa to find a preschool nearby

for the child so that Lisa who was heavily pregnant could rest. However,
Lisa wanted be in her own dwelling and lead an independent life. Funds

were unavailable for Lisa’s food and accommodation. A house had been

rented for Lisa in Kandy by a Donor. However, on the next court date Lisa
and her daughter were sent by order of the Children’s Court to the house

of her sister-in-law. This was because her husband fled out of the country

after the marital rape allegation was made by her lawyer.

The court issued an order preventing the lawyer (who assisted Lisa and
her daughter to seek justice and protection when domestic violence was

unbearable) from communication with the victim Mother and Child. Lisa

and her daughter are victims who have suffered multiple victimization.
When she settled down at the Fist Women’s shelter and was undergoing

livelihood training to function as a Teacher of English for Young Learners,

she had stated to her trainer that wants to forget the faces of her husband
and her family and that she was wants to prepare herself to enter the

world of work so that she could educate and support her child. That was
her dream. At the very outset when she left her Marital home she

personally went with her lawyer and made a complaint to the office of the

National Authority for the Protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses.
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They asked her to send an email but there was no response for many

months. It is clear that there is an enormous backlog at the said Authority

7 Assistance to and Protection of Victims of Crime s 21(1)
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