We Want A Home And Country Free Of Violence
The 16 days of Activism Against Violence Against Women, begins on the 25th of November and ends on the 10th of December, on International Human Rights Day. These 16 days of activism…
Gender
Nevertheless, They Persisted
On November 28, a nonpartisan group of women (and a few supportive men) walked from Galle Face Green to the Presidential Secretariat. It was raining heavily, but the group was firm in…
The Violence in Sri Lankan Parliament: A Mirror Image of Our Culture of Violence
“” George Orwell “.” Alexander Solzhenitsyn There is no gainsaying in condemning the current parliamentary violence. Nevertheless, our reactions to such violence—surprise and shock—imply that we think such abhorrent uncivilised behavior is…
Sri Lanka Should Take Up the Challenge on LGBT Rights
The Indian Supreme Court’s landmark ruling sweeping a colonial-era law that criminalised same-sex sexual behavior into the dustbin of Indian history has made worldwide headlines. The credit must go, of course, first…
Abortion – Where is Sri Lanka On The Spectrum?
“If you are not in favour of legal abortion, then you are in favour of illegal abortion” Prof. Arulkumaran On October 28, 2012, Savita Halappanavar, a young Indian dentist, died in Ireland…
Asma: One Strong Story – Well Said
Many knew Asma Jahangir for her brilliance, and for the celebration of diversity that she always was. She was a beacon of hope as a dogged defender of human rights and a…
Digital Battlefield: Launch of Digital Security Wiki
In the year 2018, the divide between online and offline worlds has become increasingly blurred. Behaviour seen in digital spaces and the language used in the dissemination of content mirrors offline practice…
Women’s Participation at the Grassroots Level
Drawing on the idea that the personal is political and challenging the notion that political empowerment can be measured solely with a seat in a legislature, this article focuses on the forms…
Women’s Representation and Participation in Formal Politics
Despite the drive for gender equality promoted at the Beijing UN World Conference on Women in 1995, the Sri Lankan State appears to have taken little responsibility for narrowing the gender gap…
Invisible Barriers: The Struggle to Combat Violence, Online and Off
Rights activists have been abducted, detained and assaulted in the pursuit of their work in Sri Lanka, both during and after the war. Even under the present government, the crackdown on the…
Conflict-Affected Women in Sri Lanka – Still Waiting For Answers
There has been a marked increase in female-headed households in the North and East of the country as a consequence of the war in Sri Lanka concluded in 2009. Women in Sri…
An Uneven Playing Field: Bisliya Bhutto
Initially, Bisliya, a women’s rights activist based in Puttalam and researching on female participation in politics, didn’t want to enter the arena herself. Her interests lay more in working to get more…
An Uneven Playing Field: Jeevanee Kariyawasam
‘When you’re having a conversation, your message might reach four or five people. With technology acting as a mouthpiece, you can reach thousands at a time. And when you don’t see the…
An Uneven Playing Field: Rosy Senanayake
‘In the 21st century, the digital sphere nearly outweighs that of physical human interaction’ says Rosy Senanayake, who was officially appointed the first female mayor of Colombo recently. She notes that the…
An Uneven Playing Field: Jegatheeswaram Jeyachandrika
Contesting under the UNP for the Arayampathy ward in Batticaloa, Jegatheeswaram Jeyachandrika, or Meena as she is known, counts the threats she has received on her fingers. There was the time people…