Every year a staggering 10,000 girls in Sri Lanka face sexual abuse by their relatives in families where the mother has taken up overseas employment, with more than half the rapes committed by fathers, says a recent sample study by the Center for Women's Research (CENWOR). According to the nongovernmental organization (NGO), only around 100 cases are registered annually, mainly because those affected are minors and the law lacks teeth. During the past five years, 512 cases of incest were reported - 54.5 per cent of them committed by fathers. According to the chairperson of the country's premier child rights NGO, Protecting Environment and Children Everywhere (PEACE), Maureen Seneviratne, the worst sufferers are girls in the age group of 10-14. "Mothers leaving homes as migrant workers has caused fissures in Sri Lanka society in a major way, especially in the rural areas," says CENWOR project coordinator Lilangi Wanasundara. Most of these women are from the lowest strata of society and are married to men who are casual workers in the plantation sector, construction and so on. Seneviratne says the problem areas are the western coastal belt and the poverty-stricken Uva province, from where around 900,000 women have gone abroad. Around 85 per cent of them are married. Says psychology lecturer at Colombo university, Tilak Hettiarachchi, "In most cases, what happens is that once the wife starts sending money from abroad, the husband gives up his job and hits the bottle. With the man spending most of his time at home, the girl child becomes the victim of this changed lifestyle." Fourteen-year-old Nilmini, who is undergoing rehabilitation at a home for teenage pregnant mothers run by the NGO, Sarvodaya, in Lunawa near the capital Colombo, was raped by her father while her mother was abroad. After her mother left the country, Nilmini stopped going to work and did all the household chores. That's when her father started abusing her sexually. The cruelest part is that last November she gave birth to her own father's son. PEACE has initiated a project to help such children in Badulla district in Uva province. Their target group was girl children of migrant mothers in the plantation sector where alcoholism is rampant among the laborers. So far nearly 200 girls have been given accommodation in hostels, convents and other centers run by various religious institutions. Most of the children, who are from the minority Indian Tamil community, study in government schools. Their mothers send monthly boarding fees for their daughters. In 1995 the government included incest - which was earlier treated as an offence under the marriage laws - under the penal code. However, the police classifies all incest cases under the rape category. In the draft Bill, which sought to amend the penal code, it was stated that in cases of rape and incest there would be relaxation on the restrictions on medical termination of pregnancy. But later the government removed this clause, stating it might lead to controversy. Seneviratne says since the law has done little to protect the girl child from their fathers, a better way of handling the problem would be to deal directly with mothers leaving for the Middle East. She says since all migrant workers get themselves registered with the Labor Department before leaving for overseas employment, they should be asked to make satisfactory arrangements for their children's safety first. Seneviratne warns, "If no such screening is done by the government, soon we will have a large number of girls who have children fathered by their own fathers or immediate relations." The honorary secretary of Sarvodaya, Neetha Ariyaratne, agrees that mothers leaving the country as migrant workers is the biggest contributory factor for the vulnerability of young girls, and has created a major social crisis. But she says all the blame should not be placed on migration. "There are many instances of girls who were raped or abused by close relations while the mothers were at home," says Ariyaratne. Sarvodaya has opened a special home in Kuliyapitiya in the Northwestern province to look after female children of migrant mothers. Ariyaratne says such efforts aren't enough. "Given the magnitude of the issue, it is obvious that unless the government steps in and does something, crimes against girls will only increase," she says. The government says it is looking at new legislation. Says Women's Affairs Minister Amara Piyaseeli Ratnayake, "The plight of the girl child is a special area that needs everybody's attention as there is an increase in crimes against them, especially incest. We are in the process of formulating proposals that would seek defenses against all crimes against women. Around 65 per cent of migrant employees here are women, with housemaids accounting for 53 per cent of all employment placements. There was a ten per cent increase in the foreign employment placements last year mainly due to promotional campaigns by private job agencies. Foreign remittance from migrant workers is the country's single largest net foreign exchange earner.