Sunila Abeysekera has been a formative voice in the women’s movement in Sri Lanka and in South Asia, as well as in international movements for women’s human rights. Sunila Abeysekera (1952-2013) has been a formative voice in the women’s movement in Sri Lanka and in South Asia, as well as in international movements for women’s […]
For two decades, Kumudini Samuel has played a key role in the women’s movement and the antiwar movement in Sri Lanka. Thanks to her work, women have been included in the protracted peace process. Since the 1980s, Kumudini Samuel (born 1958) has played a key role in the women’s movement and the antiwar movement in […]
Visakha Dharamadasa has brought together mothers from the divided Tamil-dominated north and the Sinhala-dominated south to ask the combatants just one question: where are our children? Visakha Dharamadasa (born 1960) is the driving force behind the Association of Parents of Soldiers Missing in Action, and the Association of War-Affected Women. A woman who has radically […]
Kumari Jayawardena stands out for her pioneering activism and scholarship on left and feminist issues, and for her ceaseless work on trying to bring an end to the internecine crisis. Kumari Jayawardena (born 1931) stands out in Sri Lanka and beyond for her pioneering activism and scholarship on left and feminist issues, and for the […]
A brilliant scholar, Radhika Coomaraswamy has created new conceptual and theoretical frameworks for understanding women and conflict. Sri Lankan lawyer and academic Radhika Coomaraswamy (born 1953) has written and published extensively on issues such as women and conflict, minority rights and governance. Through her work, this brilliant scholar has created new conceptual and theoretical frameworks […]
Working among Tamils in a Sri Lankan war zone, A. H. bridges the faultlines that deeply divide communities in her country. Working in the Sri Lankan war zone in the east, A. H., together with the affected families in this deeply divided community, struggles to overcome fear and respond to crippling life situations that attempt […]
The frustrations of Vijayakumary Murugiah’s conflict resolution do not defeat her. Witness to a saga of violence, she searches ceaselessly for ways and means to stop violence against women. Vijayakumary Murugiah has witnessed and endured a series of violent acts since she was a child. But rather than being consumed by her own trauma, or […]
Shanti Christine Arulampalam and her organization, Survivors Associated, have transformed the lives of more than 27,000 people in four war-torn districts of northern and eastern Sri Lanka. As executive director of Survivors Associated, which works for the psychosocial healing of people affected by war, Shanti Christine Arulampalam has helped transform many formerly ravaged lives. […]
Even at 71, an indefatigable Dulcy traverses the country talking to people on both sides of the ethnic concertina, often risking life and limb. Cofounder of the Mothers and Daughters of Sri Lanka, Dulcy de Silva (born 1933) is convinced that because women are the most severely affected by conflict, they are also the key […]
Although she has few resources and fewer funds, Immaculate has the gift of hope and confidence to give to people shattered by the conflict-that is all that can help people survive the reality of war. Sister Immaculate Josef (born 1950) is a doctor by training and a sister of the church by choice. She combines […]
