Women from 17 different political parties in Sri Lanka united on March 8th to create a declaration printed in newspapers for the International Day of the Woman.
Addressing the second International Women's Conference in Bangalore, India last Friday, Madam Shiranthi Rajapaksa said, "women, especially in the developing world face much hardship as a result of terrorism, poverty, lack of education, lack of resources in childcare and healthcare and the spread
The main obstacle to equal political representation of women in political institutions in Sri Lanka is political - their lack of commitment to give nominations to women, the lack of internal party democracy and the present political culture perpetuated by parties.
"While on one side the conflict created havoc in Sri Lanka, on the other hand it—to some extent—helped to advance the rights of women, particularly in strongly male-dominated societies where the women’s place—to use a common phrase—is ‘at home’," noted Dharmadasa, whose own son disappeared during
Sri Lanka displays positive aspects regarding its population, other than in one area:the number of women in politics. According to 2009 data, women hold 13 out of the 255 seats in Parliament, that is five percent of all seats.
The government is considering increasing the number of seats reserved for women in the Bangladesh parliament from the present 45 to 100.
Women should be included in political parties. We have been working in one district as a pilot program to take women who are active in politics at district levels.
Upeksha Suwarnamali became famous playing the role of 'Pabha', a poor young girl in love with a rich man in a long running hit television series in Sri Lanka. But these days, she is better known for her real life: A victim of domestic violence turned champion of abused women.
Today only 5.8 percent of the Sri Lankan parliament is female, most of whom were elected because they inherited a voter base from a male family member. And, at 1.8 percent, the rate of female representation in Sri Lanka’s local politics is even more disturbing.