Has the Animal Welfare Bill Fallen by the Wayside?
Photo courtesy of NY Daily News The images are harrowing and all too familiar – an electrocuted baby elephant, a caged dog, a leopard caught in a trap, a butchered dolphin; accounts…
Advocacy
Why Language Matters
That we cannot exist meaningfully without language and communication is a simple concept. A look back at Sri Lanka’s history of language policy shows why our story is a little more complex…
Celebrating Inspiring Women: A Message from Jayathma Wickramanayake
There is a social experiment that has been doing rounds close to Women’s Day this year. To help understand the human mind, participants are asked to solve a riddle and their responses…
The Strength of Disability
Photo Courtesy of Humanity & Inclusion To mark International Day for Persons with Disabilities, Groundviews interviewed Dharini de Mel, a friend and philanthropist for persons with disabilities. Dharini’s introduction to supporting the…
Eliminating Violence Against Women with Community Support
Photo courtesy of Daily Mirror On November 25, 1960 three sisters, Patria Mercedes Mirabal, María Argentina Minerva Mirabal and Antonia María Teresa Mirabal, were assassinated in the Dominican Republic on the orders…
Stemming the Tide of Child Sexual Abuse
Photo courtesy of Sri Lanka Guardian World Children’s Day falls on November 20. Sri Lanka commemorated Children’s Day on October 1 and September 2 marked 30 years since the United Nations Convention…
Do We Understand Mental Health?
Photo Courtesy of Norwegian SciTech News Mental illness is not uncommon in Sri Lanka. Most often, mental illness and disorders go undetected due to social and cultural taboos, severely damaging a person’s…
The Colombo Declaration
Image Samya Arif/Medium “To discuss the knowledge and status of women today, it is important to know what they have gained and how,” [Kumari Jayawardena] said. It was in that spirit that…
Mental Health and Stigma in Sri Lanka
“I was taken to hospital without my consent. They restrained me when I refused to be medicated, and gave me an injection to sedate me. I had a full-time job, supporting my…
Let Women Decide: Some Feminist Perspectives on the ‘Abortion Debate’
Featured image courtesy Edson Chilundo/Flickr At this moment in Sri Lanka, ‘the abortion debate’ has sprung up once again; with the cabinet purportedly attempting to pass a bill which would legalize abortions…
The Abortion Debate: Mismatched and Misplaced?
Image courtesy Asia Society I once came into contact with a woman on account of a professional relationship we had. We had met to discuss her prolonged absence from work. With a…
In support of religious minorities, rule of law and Lakshan Dias
Image from Sri Lanka Mirror Religious minorities in Sri Lanka – particularly Muslims and Evangelical Christians – faced serious persecution under the Rajapakse Government, which has continued even under the Sirisena-Ranil Government….
[VIDEO] RTI In Practice
Featured image courtesy Associated Press/Eranga Jayawardena The Right to Information Act officially came into effect on February 3, 2017. We compiled a short video on the process involved in filing a request…
Submission to Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms
Photo Amantha Perera/IRIN @groundviews making a submission before CTF at today's consultation with media orgs #srilanka #lka #pubconsl pic.twitter.com/MKhkfMzhre — CTF (@ctfsl) June 28, 2016 Groundviews, along with Maatram and Vikalpa, were…
Time out on tusk trade
Photo courtesy A Voice for Wildlife Over 25 million elephants in Africa have succumbed to the now illegal ivory trade that has spanned across the last 200 years. To put that into…
