Beijing+30 Youth Blog: Strengthening women’s roles in building justice and peace in Sri Lanka
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Author: Sanjana Ravi
May 2024 marked 15 years since the end of the civil war ignited by racial and ethnic tensions between the Sinhala and Tamil communities. In 2015, the United Nations attested to the unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, and gender-based violence committed by both sides. The State promised transitional justice, but no one has been held accountable.
Women from civil society have been prominent in seeking peace and justice throughout the history of Sri Lanka. They organized movements integral to the country’s struggle for independence, groups including the Sinhala and Tamil communities to support women in the conflict areas, and organizations of mothers who sought truth and justice for the disappeared. Nevertheless, the women who are organizing movements and demanding answers are still left out of decision-making on peacebuilding.
While armed conflict no longer exists in Sri Lanka, its after-effects coupled with the patriarchal culture continue to impose severe threats to women and girls.
Sri Lanka has undergone severe economic distress after the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, an economic recession amplified in 2019, resulting in people not having electricity, fuel and food. Both crises disproportionately burdened women. For example, women were more prone to job losses because of the impact of the foreign debt crisis on the export sector, which predominantly employed women.
Therefore, when we discuss the women, peace and security agenda and a review of the implementation of Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, we must consider the current status of women in Sri Lanka.
In 2023, Sri Lanka adopted its first National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, for 2023–2027. The plan for the first time acknowledges the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peacebuilding.
However, emerging issues such as cybersecurity and climate change have not been taken into account in the plan.
The increase in gender-based violence online over the last decade and fast developments in digital technology has severely raised concerns for the safety of women and girls. And poverty and food insecurity as a result of climate change have heightened risks for women, especially those working in the food and informal sectors.
When a national action plan on women, peace and security is drawn up, it is essential to do a critical analysis of existing and emerging issues and ensure that all aspects are considered. The Government and all stakeholders involved in the plan must ensure its effective implementation so that it is not just another meaningless document.
The Government’s efforts to reconcile the impacts of the civil war and other vulnerabilities relating to women, peace and security have merely been theoretical, and it is essential that they be translated into practical outcomes that improve the lives of women and girls. The country’s focus now is on economic development. It is crucial to understand how this has heightened vulnerabilities faced by women and girls, but at the same time address other issues such as the lack of transitional justice, which often gets sidelined because it does not directly relate to economic growth. Women from the grass roots who are participating in and leading movements on advancing women’s rights must be included in decision-making so that the grass-roots issues are addressed.
Biography:
Sanjana Ravi is a Project Lead at Hashtag Generation based out of Sri Lanka. She works on analysis, documentation, and mechanisms to counter Online Gender Based Violence and Gendered Online Hate Speech. Her efforts and advocacy to address OGBV through a critical feminist lens were instrumental in the preliminary implementation of the Standard Operating Procedure for Prathya, a trilingual hotline and ecosystem of support run by Hashtag. Moreover, Sanjana's advocacy through Hashtag’s evidence-based approach also supports programs addressing digital rights and security and leading initiatives to strengthen the civic space by promoting fundamental freedoms and democracy in Sri Lanka. Sanjana identifies as an intersectional feminist, who is ardently passionate in protecting the rights of women and other marginalized groups, including ethnic groups.