Sexual violence against Tamils in Sri Lanka

Sexual violence against Tamils in Sri Lanka has occurred repeatedly during the country's long ethnic conflict. The first instances of rape of Tamil women by Sinhalese mobs were documented during the 1958 anti-Tamil pogrom. This continued in the 1960s with the deployment of the Sri Lankan Army in Jaffna, who were reported to have molested and occasionally raped Tamil women.

Further rapes of Tamils were carried out by Sinhalese mobs during the 1977, 1981 and 1983 anti-Tamil pogroms.

Following the outbreak of Sri Lankan civil war, rape was used by the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan armed forces, in an attempt to collectively punish the Tamil population, who were often seen as being supportive of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Both Tamil females and males, including children, were targeted for rape. Other groups which committed rape against Tamils included the Indian Peace Keeping Force and Sri Lankan Police.

The LTTE has been noted for its general lack of use of sexual violence, though there have been isolated instances of rape of Tamils by LTTE members. Some LTTE members accused of rape faced execution from the leadership.

Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who fled to India have also been victims of frequent rape and sex slavery by Indian security guards and intelligence police.

Many rapes went unreported during the conflict due to various factors, including intimidation from the perpetrators, impunity for the crime, and the severe stigma attached to it in traditional Tamil society.

Sexual slavery and mass rape of Tamils by Sri Lankan government forces peaked at the end of the war in 2009, and persisted in the post-war era, with human rights groups describing it as "widespread and systematic".

The government forces consistently deny all the charges of mass rape, with one senior Army official stating the following in 2010:

"Throughout their training, our boys are taught to hate the Tigers, they see them as disgusting animals, not fit to live. I am 200 per cent sure that they didn't rape Tamil women. Why would they fuck them if they hate them so much?"