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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 involved (...)
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 (...)
Sri Lanka is facing the worst economic crisis in its post-independence history. Widespread food and fuel shortages are crippling the lives of people. Such a situation that has already lasted several weeks is now resulting in widespread protests which are being repressed violently. We anticipate (...)
The Government that came into power pledging to abolish all microfinance debt has failed to keep its promises.
Moreover, the Government has also been unsuccessful in making a sufficient intervention to facilitate women suffering from an escalated microfinance crisis in the backdrop of the (...)
Nearly three years have passed since the deadly 2019 Easter Sunday bombings. While failing to prosecute the actual perpetrators, the state has single-handedly used the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act No. 48 of 1979 (PTA) as a cudgel to persecute the entire Muslim minority. As (...)
Despite previous assurances from the Ministry of Justice that an Amendment Bill to the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) would be presented to Parliament by January this year, it is learnt that the Bill to be tabled in the House will be further delayed. This is despite activists urging the (...)
When is the right time? How many more children and adolescents need to be savaged by this system? How many more women need to be unfairly punished and thrown onto the streets to beg and children enrolled in madrasas that only teach to memorize the Quran. Now especially is not the time for (...)
A woman’s right to decide what happens to her body is at the core of her right to equality, human dignity, and choice. This right is identified as one’s bodily autonomy. By criminalising abortion, Sri Lanka’s law undermines a woman’s right to exercise her bodily autonomy. Despite this (...)
Muslim Women’s Research and Action Forum and Muslim Personal Law Reform Action Group welcome move
Muslim Women’s Research and Action Forum and Muslim Personal Law Reform Action Group in a joint statement have welcomed the news that the Advisory Committee on Muslim Law Reforms has submitted its (...)
This is the rallying cry of Muslim women who want their voices heard and a speedy reform to Sri Lanka’s Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA)
A few weeks before Yasmin’s nikah ceremony, there was a flurry of news articles announcing reforms to Sri Lanka’s Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA). (...)
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