NPP and Women’s Parliamentary Representation
Leading political parties, mostly in the Sinhala speaking south, are known to loudly proclaim the need to elect more women to parliament. The reality has not caught up with that political rhetoric.…
Gender
The Erasure of the Transgender Men’s Movement in Sri Lanka
This article attempts to critically examine the contribution of transgender men to the transgender movement in Sri Lanka. It analyses the marginalisation faced by transgender men in the current context of transgender…
A Feminist Politician, Political Furore: Feminist Analysis for a New Age
The tectonic plates shifted in Sri Lanka’s political fabric on September 21. The political rupture caused by Anura Kumara Dissanayake, once considered a rank outsider, becoming the president was that moment. It…
Evolution, Not Revolution
I have a few comments to make about the rather inevitable and predictable recent attempts on social media to try and attack and diminish Dr. Harini Amarasuriya’s authority via comments about her…
Affirmative Action Vital to Increase Women’s Participation in Politics
It is an enduring stain on Sri Lanka’s democracy and gender equality that only 4.8 percent of parliamentarians are women despite their high literacy rate and educational levels. To correct this imbalance,…
The Need for Humanitarianism is Greater Than Ever
Former High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, said there were no humanitarian solutions to humanitarian problems because what they required were political solutions. When states and governments fail their citizens, endangering their…
Criminalizing Sexual Harassment: Are We Doing Enough?
The law criminalizing sexual harassment could change very soon. A bill, which proposes to amend S. 345 of the Penal Code, has been gazetted. This is a welcome development. Yet amendments to…
A New Low In Bro Behaviour
Look up “schoolgirl” and “rape” and “Sri Lanka”. There are many stories which are posted by Google Search with those taglines. We have to refine the search for the most recent atrocity…
Empowering Women in Politics: A Catalyst for Change
Photo Courtesy of Verite Research Sri Lanka’s women are literate and well educated with a 92.3 percent literacy rate and 1.4 female students for every one male student enrolled in tertiary education.…
Searching for Pride: Learning to Unlearn
June is the #Pride month where we commemorate, celebrate and recognize Two-Spirit (North American specific term to recognize two-spirit Indigenous folks), Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer, Questioning, Asexual and additional sexual…
Women’s Attire Stokes Religious Tension in Eastern Sri Lanka
In times of calamity women are affected disproportionately, and Sri Lanka’s ethnic and religious conflicts are no exception to the rule. In the post-war context, Tamil women were left to look for…
A Mural for Women Journalists from the Fearless Collective
Although Sri Lanka has had its fair share of women editors and journalists for many decades, some who ventured into areas of conflict around the country, the image of a journalist is…
On Consent – Romeo and Juliet and the Draft Bill
Newscutter What is consent? When it comes to sexual relations, the concept of consent is that it must be between two consenting adults. Currently, the age of consent for girls in Sri…
Empowering Women in the Digital Economy
The digital economy can be identified as converting the traditional market into a virtual platform. American scientist D. Tapscott, who is the author of the book titled defines digital economy as a…
Women in the North Fight Against a Patriarchal Society for Survival
In all conflicts around the world, women are deeply affected. Sri Lanka’s 26 year civil war is no exception. Women in the war torn areas have faced violence, sexual abuse, displacement and…
