Sunila Abeysekera
Encyclopedia
Sunila Abeysekera is an award winning human rights campaigner. She was born in 1952 in Sri Lanka and has worked on women's rights and human rights issues in Sri Lanka
and in the South Asia region for over 20 years as an activist and scholar. In 1994 she received an M.A. in Women and Development from the Institute of Social Studies in the Hague, Netherlands, and won that year's award for the best research paper.
Secretary General Kofi Annan presented Abeysekera with a UN human rights award in 1999. She was also honoured for her work by the Human Rights Watch.
Since 1992 Abeysekera has been working with the Global Campaign for Women's Human Rights and has been actively working in lobbying at all the UN Conferences since then -- 1993 in Vienna
and 1995 in Beijing
-- focusing on the issue of mainstreaming women's human rights concerns within the international human rights system.
In Sri Lanka, Abeysekera works with the Women and Media Collective, which does national level organazing on women's issues, with a special focus on the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action. The political participation of women and violence against women are two key areas of her concentration. She also works with cultural workers and cultural groups to develop and create new ways of expressing themselves through the media and the arts, including work on critical cultural theory.
"Women's Human Rights: Questions of Equality and Difference," (MA Thesis) (The Hague: Institute of Social Studies, 1994).
"Representations of Women in the Sinhala Cinema." Cinemaya: Indian Film Journal (1996).
"Organising for Peace in the Midst of War: Experiences of Women in Sri Lanka," in From Basic Needs to Basic Rights. Ed. M. Schuler. (Washington DC: Women, Law and Development International, 1995).
"The Abortion Debate in Sri Lanka," in Reproductive Health Matters. (London: 1995).
"Consolidating Our Gains at the World Conference on Women's Human Rights: A Personal Reflection." Canadian Women's Studies Journal 15 (Spring-Summ 1995).
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
and in the South Asia region for over 20 years as an activist and scholar. In 1994 she received an M.A. in Women and Development from the Institute of Social Studies in the Hague, Netherlands, and won that year's award for the best research paper.
Secretary General Kofi Annan presented Abeysekera with a UN human rights award in 1999. She was also honoured for her work by the Human Rights Watch.
Since 1992 Abeysekera has been working with the Global Campaign for Women's Human Rights and has been actively working in lobbying at all the UN Conferences since then -- 1993 in Vienna
World Conference on Human Rights
The World Conference on Human Rights was held by the United Nations in Vienna, Austria, on 14 to 25 June 1993. It was the first human rights conference held since the end of the Cold War...
and 1995 in Beijing
Fourth World Conference on Women
The United Nations convened the Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace on 4-15 September 1995 in Beijing, China. 189 governments and more than 5,000 representatives from 2,100 non-governmental organizations participated in the Conference...
-- focusing on the issue of mainstreaming women's human rights concerns within the international human rights system.
Summary of Major Themes
The major themes of Sunila Abeysekera's work include issues of equality and difference in understanding women's human rights and in promoting equal treatment for women; problems of re-conceptualising the nation-state and principles of good governance from a feminist perspective; problems of representation of women in art and culture; and feminist film criticism.In Sri Lanka, Abeysekera works with the Women and Media Collective, which does national level organazing on women's issues, with a special focus on the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action. The political participation of women and violence against women are two key areas of her concentration. She also works with cultural workers and cultural groups to develop and create new ways of expressing themselves through the media and the arts, including work on critical cultural theory.
Selected works
"Women and the Media in Sri Lanka: The Decade from Nairobi to Beijing," in Facets of Change. (Sri Lanka: CENWOR, 1995). CENWOR - Centre for Women's Research"Women's Human Rights: Questions of Equality and Difference," (MA Thesis) (The Hague: Institute of Social Studies, 1994).
"Representations of Women in the Sinhala Cinema." Cinemaya: Indian Film Journal (1996).
"Organising for Peace in the Midst of War: Experiences of Women in Sri Lanka," in From Basic Needs to Basic Rights. Ed. M. Schuler. (Washington DC: Women, Law and Development International, 1995).
"The Abortion Debate in Sri Lanka," in Reproductive Health Matters. (London: 1995).
"Consolidating Our Gains at the World Conference on Women's Human Rights: A Personal Reflection." Canadian Women's Studies Journal 15 (Spring-Summ 1995).
See also
- Kumari JayawardenaKumari JayawardenaKumari Jayawardena is a leading feminist figure and academic in Sri Lanka. Her work is part of the canon of third-world feminism which conceptualizes feminist philosophies that are indigenous and unique to non-Western societies and nations rather than mere off-shoots of Western...
- Human RightsHuman rightsHuman rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
- Feminist film criticism
- cultural studiesCultural studiesCultural studies is an academic field grounded in critical theory and literary criticism. It generally concerns the political nature of contemporary culture, as well as its historical foundations, conflicts, and defining traits. It is, to this extent, largely distinguished from cultural...
- critical theoryCritical theoryCritical theory is an examination and critique of society and culture, drawing from knowledge across the social sciences and humanities. The term has two different meanings with different origins and histories: one originating in sociology and the other in literary criticism...