SEXUAL ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION OF BOYS IN SOUTH ASIA A ...

Despite these challenges, which face government and NGO shelters throughout South Asia,
Sri Lanka has some of the best residential care facilities in the region. The Don Bosco
Technical Training Centre near Negombo is a regional model for the recovery of boys
escaping from sexual exploitation in prostitution. Police, probation and child care services
along with courts and NGOs refer abused and sexually exploited boys to the centre, where
they receive comprehensive training in carpentry, masonry, welding, auto repair, boat motor
repair, computers and other skills, as well as psychological support. Daily life is kind and
strict, and the quality of training is superior to that in most technical schools in the country.
There is a waiting list of employers seeking to hire boys who graduate from Don Bosco, and
the centre has probably the highest success rate in the region for returning sexually exploited
boys to normal, productive lives. 463
Other shelters in Sri Lanka also provide a high quality of care, including a home operated in
Wellampitiya by the ESCAPE project of LEADS. The staff is highly trained, particularly in
counselling and social work, and provide professional services, including case management
for child recovery and reintegration.
8.4.8.3 Psychosocial care
As in most of South Asia, counselling and therapy in institutional settings in Sri Lanka are
not fully developed. The majority of what are termed ‘rehabilitation’ activities are simply
provision of basic education and vocational training. 464 Except for vocational training,
rehabilitation is generally addressed to boys and girls similarly; activities do not cater to the
specific needs of boys or girls. At the same time, due to Sri Lanka’s relatively long focus on
child sexual abuse, counsellors, psychologists, doctors and caregivers have greater awareness
of the outcomes of sexual abuse and greater experience working with abused children than
many of their counterparts in other countries of the region. Interviews with caregivers in
government and NGO shelters in Sri Lanka have shown an adequate knowledge of indicators
of abuse, including sexualized behaviours. They have also shown little prejudice against
sexually abused children or children in prostitution and considerable practical experience in
dealing with the abused, including the very young. 465
The Community Health Foundation (Sahana Sevana), in Ja-ela, near Colombo, has a small
residential facility for adults and children with mental and physical handicaps, including those
suffering from sexual abuse. The organization provides counselling and experiential
rehabilitation activities, including innovative therapies with very young children who have
suffered sexual abuse. SERVE and PEACE provide trained counsellors and social workers in
their programmes for abused children, and the Family Rehabilitation Centre in Colombo
provides therapy for adults and children by both counsellors and psychologists.
LEADS/ESCAPE, with the support of Save the Children, established a therapy centre in
1997. It provides therapy for abused children and trains caregivers, teachers and parents to
463
Frederick, J., 2000, ‘Teaching the boys hard skills: The Don Bosco Technical Centre’. In Frederick, J. (ed).
‘Fallen Angels: The sex workers of South Asia’.
464
International Labour Organization (S. Amarasinghe), 2002, op.cit.
465
Frederick, J., 2002, Independent observation of government and NGO shelters during consultancy for ILO.
146