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…
Gender
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…
Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women: Lessons from the JVP’s Evolution
Pre-1971 JVP saw a presence of women cadres that could be considered modest. Before the April 1971 uprising there were full time and part time women cadres active within the movement. The…
Capitalism and Empowerment of Women
Exploitation of women continues within patriarchal societies and marriages. Forced marriages is one of the more notorious examples; the most extreme version of this, is a form of modern day slavery. In…
Gender Equality, Empowerment of Women and the JVP
My previous article about the International Women’s Day emphasised the importance of working towards gender equality, which is essential for the world in its journey towards a reconciled and a fairer place….
Is Sri Lanka’s Apparel Sector Prepared to Face Pathogen X?
HuffPost The World Health Organization (WHO) is expressing concerns about the global community’s readiness for pathogen X, a highly contagious pathogen that could emerge in the future. Scientists predict a higher likelihood…
Shattering Glass Ceilings in the Tea Plantation Industry
Women working as tea pickers form the single largest segment of the plantation workforce in Sri Lanka, with little room to progress in their careers. Over the years women occupied in manual…
The Fight for Women’s Empowerment During Conflict and Crises
This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is Count Her In: Invest in Women. Accelerate progress. Sri Lanka, like many nations, grapples with a confluence of crises driven by geopolitical conflicts, rising…