The National Plan of Action for Women (NPA) was adopted by Sri Lanka in May 1996 following the 1995 World Conference on Women, and has been developed based on the Global Platform for Action on Women. The NPA is a collaborative effort between the government and the NGO sector in Sri Lanka and encompasses the following sectors: Violence Against Women, women and human rights, women and armed conflict, education and training, economic activities and poverty, health, environment, decision making, the girl child and the media. In the 1996 activity plan of the first NPA, the section on violence against women, women and human rights and women and the armed conflict looked at legislative reform (amendments to the Penal Code, domestic violence legislation), positive administrative action (to change discriminatory Citizenship regulations), the collection of information to address issues related to the armed conflict in the short term (1 year), the establishment of a monitoring unit for women’s rights, access to legal processes and legal aid, legislative reform to provide for speedy legal process in relation to grave crimes against women, review of discriminatory personal laws and the establishment of crisis centers for women victims of violence in the medium term (4 years) and raising public awareness of issues of violence, change of attitudes through education, collection of information on violence against women and education of judges and law enforcement officers in the long term (over 4 years). The Beijing Plus 5 review of the NPA and the updating of the NPA for the period 2001 to 2005 were done by the NCW in 2001. At present, in 2009, an updated version of the NPA is being prepared by the NCW through a collaborative effort of the government, NGOs, researches and academics. Handout Legal Instruments addressing gender based violence In Sri Lanka, the legal system addresses gender based violence through the provisions of the Penal Code (codified in 1883) and the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act (2005). While many offences against women fall within the general offences of assault, hurt, grievous hurt, sexual abuse, prostitution, murder and kidnapping, a few offences deal specifically with women victims. Chapter XVI of the Penal Code titled "Offences affecting the human body or offences affecting life”, contains these offences. These offences would generally cover the physical violence which can be inflicted on women in public sphere as well as in their homes. However, psychological abuse and economic abuse in the absence of physical violence would not constitute a substantive offence. 82