COLOMBO (AFP) - Women activists urged Sri Lankan authorities to step up protection for tsunami survivors amid unconfirmed reports some had been molested or even gang raped at refugee shelters.

The rights group, Women and Media Collective, urged stepped up protection for women and children who were more vulnerable after they were driven out of their homes by last week's tsunamis that killed more than 30,000 people.

"We have received reports of incidents of rape, rang rape, molestation and physical abuse of women and girls in the course of unsupervised rescue operations and while resident in temporary shelters," it said in a statement.