Operationalise National Commission on Women

Thursday, 22 January 2026 02:45 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A group of political activists last week sent a petition to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake about the lack of recourse for women who are subjected to violence. The petition was signed by more than 100 women from various professional and other backgrounds. The crux of their frustration was that the National Commission on Women (NCW), mandated to safeguard and protect the rights of Sri Lankan women from discrimination and violence, was still not functional to deal with the numerous incidents of violence women are confronted with at home, the workplace and other public spaces including online platforms.

The NCW was set up last year under the Women’s Empowerment Act No 37 of 2024. Despite its designation as an independent commission, the NCW comes under the purview of the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs. The Constitutional Council called for applications and/or nominations to fill its seven member positions by 20 January 2025. Although some of these members have been appointed, it is unclear from the Ministry website if all the positions have been filled. The NCW’s functions which include receiving and investigating complaints about violence against women, appear to be stuck without a budget, an independent office and human and other resources.

Gender based hate speech is increasingly coming to light. In the past months a barrage of online and offline verbal abuse targeting the Prime Minister’s appearance, attire, sexual orientation and competence to hold her current portfolios have been building up. The trending onslaught, an errant entry in a Grade 6 English textbook which is a part of the national curricular undergoing reform and purported to have had details of a gay and lesbian website, has resulted in a no confidence motion against the Prime Minister. Historically, there have been instances where women Members of Parliament have been verbally abused during parliamentary sessions by their male counterparts who have humiliated and belittled them in language with sexual and gender undertones. Last year, Ramanathan Archchuna, a Jaffna District MP notorious for his unbecoming behaviour in Parliament, called a female lawyer (not a MP) a prostitute.

In the run up to the presidential and parliamentary elections of 2024, the National People’s Power mobilised women under the banner Gahanu Api Eka Mitata to build one of the biggest women’s movements in the country. It underscored the NPP’s vision to mainstream women’s politics in keeping with its manifesto pledge to create a society where women, who represent half of the country’s population, enjoy equal rights, free from physical, verbal and emotional violence. The manifesto went on to state that the NPP’s priority will be to uphold and introduce laws in alignment with international charters it has already signed and establish protection mechanisms, leading to the transformation of attitudes and institutional changes.

A part of this drive will be to operationalise the NCW as soon as possible without it being damned into the litter bin as another lip service project. The petition reminds the President that the NCW came about from the struggles of women, a point signifying the people’s ownership of it and the Government’s accountability for it.