A/HRC/34/53/Add.3 housing, from the Government. The Special Rapporteur was also informed that protracted displacement had also led to many conflicts over scarce resources, including between and within minority groups, also owing to tensions between host communities and those displaced. B. Minority women 46. Women and girls belonging to minority communities often face unique challenges and multiple or intersecting forms of discrimination emanating from their gender and their status as persons belonging to minorities. This is particularly acute in Sri Lanka, where women’s participation in decision-making is strikingly low and gender-based violence is prevalent. 47. Women in the North and East continue to suffer from the scars of the conflict, as well as the insecurity that resulted from the subsequent militarization. In the last stages of the war and its aftermath, human rights abuses against the civilian population by both sides to the conflict were rife, including sexual and gender-based violence. The climate of impunity and the additional insecurity created by the militarization have meant that women are living with multiple challenges that threaten their freedom, dignity and security on a daily basis. While the incidence of sexual assaults by military personnel is said to have decreased with the downsizing of the army in the North and East, a climate of fear remains among the Tamil women in an area where the military presence has continued. 48. According to the latest census, approximately one in four households in Sri Lanka are headed by females,11 and most are found in the North and East. The Special Rapporteur was told that this status is accompanied by particular vulnerabilities and social stigma that make basic survival difficult and exposes the women to further exploitation. The lack of income-generation and employment opportunities combined with high levels of debt make them vulnerable to sexual exploitation by community leaders, family members as well as the military. Women who are displaced also face particular challenges, such as claiming land belonging to their disappeared husbands, as deeds are normally in the name of the male head of household. 49. War widows and women family members of the disappeared who search for truth, justice and accountability, as well as women activists who advocate on their behalf also face particular risks. There are instances of wives and mothers of the disappeared being asked for money or sexual services in return for information. Worrying allegations of intimidation and harassment by the Criminal Investigation Division were also made, particularly in relation to former LTTE combatants. These women continue to be under heavy surveillance even today, and there were allegations of late-night phone calls and “visits”. Many are unable to marry or have a family because of the social stigma and the constant harassment. Once they have undergone the official rehabilitation programme, there is no follow-up on their reintegration into society. Another concern was the vulnerable situation of women who are given vocational training and employment by the Civilian Security Department of the military in isolated conditions under the direct authority of military personnel. 50. Plantation Tamil women, despite constituting over 50 per cent of the plantation workforce, have been marginalized and excluded from decision-making on the plantations, including in trade unions. The plantation social structure is said to be traditionally patriarchal, with male domination solidified at the different social, economic and cultural 11 12 See http://lk.one.un.org/news/un-round-table-discussion-on-empowering-female-headed-householdsin-sri-lanka/.