Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières
The Sri Lankan Government needs to move ahead with MMDA reforms before any more delays and scuttling by conservative groups with intentions to suppress Muslim women’s rights in the name of culture or religion
The Sri Lankan Muslim communities have been abuzz with debates about the reform of (...)
Arguments about the economic benefits of women’s labour participation go hand in hand with assumptions about the personal value of women’s work, often framed in terms of empowerment and choice. Yet this notion of choice and empowerment elides not only the deeply unequal and often exploitative (...)
Caring for household members. Well-being of the family. Putting food on the table. Washing clothes. Making ends meet. Looking after the young, the old, and differently abled family members. These are everyday activities performed by someone or some people for someone or some people. The (...)
As part of Sri Lanka’s economic bailout, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is telling us that we should increase women’s labour force participation. It is part of a recommendation about ‘growth-enhancing structural reforms’ including reducing youth unemployment, liberalising trade, developing (...)
Sri Lanka’s embassies have repeatedly warned the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and other authorities of glaring shortcomings in the handling of local labour in West Asia–including an urgent need for Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) attachés in these missions to have minimum (...)
Feminist Collective for Economic Justice Co-Founder, researcher, and activist Sarala Emmanuel says that the brunt of the economic crisis has been borne by women and the brunt of the recovery proposals will also be borne by women.
Following is an extract of the interview given to Channel News (...)
Countless images of women carers flitted through April-July 2022 on Sri Lankan television screens, social media, and newspapers. Carers with young children, mothers with new-borns leaving them with equally young children while they stood in queue for gas or kerosene, children doing their (...)
Academic, rights activist, and Member of Parliament Dr. Harini Amarasuriya delivered the keynote address at the Regional Conference on Equality and Equity in Recognising Unpaid Care Work and Women’s Labour in South Asia on 20-21 October, organised by the Women and Media Collective and Social (...)
Polygamy has become the final hurdle in introducing the long-awaited amendments to the Muslim marriage law and final recommednations on the matter are to be submitted in two weeks.
Polygamy has become the final hurdle in introducing the long-awaited amendments to the Muslim marriage law and (...)
Economic hardships in the last few months have aggravated, making the class divide more visible than ever in Sri Lanka. The Government is preoccupied with establishing ‘stability’ through State repression.
Since Ranil Wickremesinghe took oath as the President of Sri Lanka, the crackdown on (...)
Call for halt of witch hunt of protestors; slam state of emergency
The Women for Democratic Struggles (WDS) group yesterday (2) called upon the Government to call for an early General/Parliamentary Election, and for the Government to stop its witch hunt of protestors and key activists (...)
The Sri Lanka garment industry was deeply hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent economic crisis. Millions of garment workers are now living on the edge, increasingly suffering from volatile incomes, unstable jobs and low savings.
“Watching the Aragalaya march, I felt that Sri Lanka (...)
Kalyani, a 34-year-old resident from Elahara, Polonnaruwa, had recently sold a part of her one-acre land, where her partially-built house is situated, just to pay off a loan that she had obtained years ago from a microfinance institution functioning in the nearby town.
“The land was a wedding (...)
Since the Gota Go Gama (Gota Go Village) protests started in April demanding Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resign, the ruling regime has made several changes in an attempt to remain in power. These included replacing the prime minister, cabinet and, more recently, appointing Dhammika (...)
When I was invited to deliver a lecture on the occasion of Rajani Thiranagama’s death anniversary, I felt honoured. Contemplating what I could say on this sombre occasion, I felt somewhat beholden to the pasts that Rajani had stood witness to, and also the future that stood to gain and learn (...)
Former garment makers in Sri Lanka are having to take desperate measures to get through the economic crisis
A diminutive female figure enters the brightly lit courtyard, tugging a blue Disney-themed dress below her knees and swatting away the mosquitoes.
With a sigh, she expresses her (...)
In late April, women from movements and collectives in the North and East marched into GotaGoGama in Galle Face to voice their concerns and issues in solidarity with the struggle in the South. From organizing satyagrahas on the streets against a plethora of issues to engaging with women headed (...)
As Sri Lanka’s economic and political crisis worsens, heartrending stories of human suffering are emerging every day. People are being forced to make difficult choices between purchasing medicine and buying food. Waiting in long queues for fuel and cooking gas is taking its toll on resilient (...)
“I am here because I don’t have another option,” says Semini*, as she waits in line at the pawnbrokers. It’s nearing noon and the air conditioning is barely adequate against the unforgiving April sun outside the small pawnshop space.
Semini is 28 years old and a single mother. She is here to pawn (...)
In response to Sri Lanka’s ongoing economic crisis, and the consensus across the political spectrum and even social classes that an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bail-out and structural adjustment programme is the only short-to-medium term exit or at least breathing space for citizens, the (...)
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