Sri Lankan Female MPs Experience Verbal Harassment By Their Male Colleagues

23-11-2021 

Judit Kolbe 

Sri Lanka and Human Rights Researcher,

Global Human Rights Defence.

On the 22nd of November 2021, Dr. Sudharshani Fernandopulle, the Chairperson of the Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus (WPC) in Sri Lanka’s parliament and State Minister of Primary Health Care, Epidemics and COVID Disease Control, wrote a letter to the Speaker of Parliament. She urged him to take necessary steps to prevent verbal harassment of female Members of Parliament (MP) (ColomboPage, 2021; Daily News, 2021). Fernandopulle explains in the letter how verbal harassment by male colleagues from both the ruling and Opposition party has surged, due to the small number of female MPs in Sri Lanka’s Parliament at this time (Daily News, 2021). She drew attention to the recent incident where Tissa Kuttiarachchi, an MP of the ruling party Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) had made sexist remarks against female MPs (ColomboPage, 2021; NewsWire, 2021). Furthermore, Fernandopulle expressed that harassment of womens’ representatives who contribute to the creation of legislation, shows a ‘degeneration’ of Sri Lanka’s society (Daily News, 2021). Additionally, she points out how women are harassed daily in the domestic environment, on public transportation and at their workplace, evidencing societies’ ‘backward attitude’ towards women who make up more than half of Sri Lanka’s population (ColomboPage, 2021; DailyNews, 2021).

Sources and further reading: 

ColomboPage (2021, November 23). Sri Lanka: Women MP’s of Sri Lanka parliament call for action to prevent verbal harassment from male colleagues. ColomboPage. http://www.colombopage.com/archive_21B/Nov23_1637608531CH.php

DailyNews (2021, November 23). Dr. Sudharshani writes to Speaker. DailyNews. http://www.dailynews.lk/2021/11/23/local/265385/dr-sudharshani-writes-speaker

NewsWire (2021, November 20). SLPP MP accused of making sexist remarks against female MP in Parliament. NewsWire. https://www.newswire.lk/2021/11/20/slpp-mp-accused-of-making-sexist-remarks-against-female-mp-in-parlit/