be included in an amendment to Art 12 of the Constitution, which deals with the right to equality. This should be given priority in Constitutional reform, and has also been mentioned in the CEDAW committee's Concluding Observations of 2017. The CEDAW committee has in Concluding Observations of 2017 called for this reform. In Concluding Observations of 2011 the CEDAW committee urged Sri Lanka’s government to repeal the provisions in the Penal Code criminalizing adult consensual same sex conduct. The Galabada Wimalasiri case (2016) draws attention to the need for policy change in this area. 13) Abduction, Illegal Detention, the Penal Code and Vagrant’s Ordinance There is a serious gap in the Penal Code in regard to the offence of illegal restraint. The current procedure on questioning illegal detention through Writs of Habeas Corpus, or in proceedings for violation of fundamental rights guaranteed in the Constitution Art 13 does not compensate for the deficit in not treating these acts as grave Penal Code offences, which can be prosecuted as grave violence whether committed by officials or Non State actors. The provisions in the Vagrant’s Ordinance (1841) can also be used to arbitrarily arrest women sex workers and harass homosexual and transgender persons even though homosexuals are not prosecuted, and S. 365 A remains an unenforced legal provision of the Penal Code. The Vagrant’s Ordinance should be repealed and adult homosexuality decriminalized by repealing S. 365 A. Policies on public nuisance can be articulated in amendments to the Penal Code, so as to prevent arbitrary detention and arrest under the Vagrant’s Ordinance. Wrongful confinement is a very minor Penal Code offence in S. 330, S. 331 of the Penal Code. These provisions should be amended to respond to GBV. ‘Good faith’ can be a general defence in regard to the offence of illegal restraint in the Penal Code, as indicated in an Exception, and this can reduce impact in relation to illegal restraint and GBV. Amendments to the Penal Code to strengthen a criminal justice response can be useful in addressing in this dimension of domestic violence. The DV Act 2005 (S. 330 and 331) includes this offence in definition of domestic violence in Schedule I for the purpose of the civil remedies under the Act. Ratification of the Convention on Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances requires a serious review and reform of the law in this area. 14) Abortion and Termination of Pregnancy, and Infanticide There is an urgent need to review the current criminal law which adopts a nineteenth century approach to criminalizing termination of pregnancy “except to save the life of the mother.” The law needs to consider changes in light of women’s rights to equality and bodily integrity, and the need to prevent risk of illegal abortion. The exception to culpability, “saving the life of the mother” is itself a normative concept developed from the need to balance conflicting interests and rights. Changes to principles of family law and marriage regarding the status of non-marital unions and the status of non-marital children are critical to respond to the reality of infanticide in the community and the family (See Marriage and GBV below). 15) Emotional Abuse and the Criminal Law This dimension of GBV is not captured in the substantive criminal law in the Penal Code, except through recent amendments to the law on sexual harassment in 1995, and ragging in 1998. Bodily harm is interpreted in general as harm to the body. 50 COMPENDIUM ON LAW, GENDER BASED VIOLENCE AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS