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SPEAKER_03: I'm the host and producer of the podcast, SESTA. We aim to harness the power of arts and culture to foster conversation and build peace in Cyprus. I'll be your guest host for this month of Womanica. This month, we're highlighting peace builders. In times of conflict, these women have stepped in, bringing their creativity and insight to help facilitate peace across the globe. Today, we're talking about a woman who fought relentlessly for human rights at home in Sri Lanka and abroad. Although women were at the forefront of her fight for justice, she aimed to make the world a safer place for all genders, ethnicities and religions.
SPEAKER_03: Sunila Abaisikira was born in Sri Lanka on September 4, 1952. She was born into a middle-class Sinhalese family. Sri Lanka is primarily divided between two ethnic groups, the Sinhalese and the Tamil. The Sinhalese make up the majority. Sunila was gifted from a young age. She received a scholarship to Bishops College, a premier Christian girls' school in Colombo, Sri Lanka. After completing school, Sunila pursued a career as an actress, singer and dancer. She appeared in many plays and films before also taking on the role of a drama critic. Sunila worked in the arts until she found herself drawn to the civil rights movement in the mid-1970s. The civil rights movement was a non-partisan inter-ethnic organization that advocated for the release of the men and women who had been arrested during the revolt led by the GVP Communist Group. Sunila disagreed with the government's authoritarian response. She got involved by bringing food and clothing to detainees while also working on their release. But much of Sunila's activism is defined by the 26-year Sri Lankan civil war. The conflict began in 1948, after Sri Lanka gained its independence from Britain. Still bitter from Britain's preference for the Tamils, the Sinhalese government used their newfound independence and power to disenfranchise the Tamils. They made Sinhala the official language and Buddhism the nation's primary religion. Tensions between the two groups escalated and, in 1983, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam ambushed a Sinhalese army convoy. Thirteen soldiers were killed in the attack. But what followed was worse. Violent riots resulting in thousands of deaths and over two decades of civil war. Although Sunila was Sinhalese, she condemned the government's treatment of the Tamils. Her philosophy was, As a member of the majority ethnic community, all my life I have taken part in collective actions and creative activities to defend minority rights and to celebrate minority cultures. Sunila stood out because she denounced both the government and the Tamils. She was vocal about her disagreement with the state's disenfranchisement of the Tamils, as well as her opposition to the acts of violence committed by the Tamil Tigers. Sunila wasn't just vocal locally, but also internationally. On this issue and many others, she spoke at demonstrations, conferences and the United Nations. At the center of Sunila's fight for human rights were women. In her own words, she knew that Sunila founded and got involved in many organizations that promoted women's rights. She was a founder of Sri Lanka's Pacific and Asian Women's Forum. She fought against the state's repression of women through the Mother's Front Organization, and she helped develop the Women for Peace Organization, which put forth political solutions to Sri Lanka's ethnic civil war. In 1984, she founded the Women in Media Collective in Colombo. The organization works to ensure that every Sri Lankan woman lives an autonomous life. They aim to embed feminist principles throughout South Asia to create a more just society where women are treated as equals. Because Sunila spoke out against the government, she was targeted as an enemy of the state. The threats that she received were so bad in 1988, she fled to the Netherlands for six months. But Sunila returned. In the face of abuse, threats and discrimination, her courage propelled her forward. She was a shining example of what it meant to oppose and confront abusive authority. In 1989, Sunila was a founding member of the group Inform. The group monitored and documented the government's and Tamil Tigers' human rights abuses, including disappearances. This was a dangerous act of defiance during a time when the government and the Tigers were fostering an environment of fear and suppression. This documentation played a crucial role in highlighting the conflict on an international level. In 1990, Sunila became the Executive Director of the organization. Her work expanded outside of Sri Lanka as well. She was instrumental in getting the international world to acknowledge women's rights as human rights at the UN World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1993. Sunila also advocated for the equality of women by helping ensure that the United National Security Council passed Resolution 1325. This legislation supports women's participation in peace negotiations and post-conflict reconstruction. Other minorities that Sunila championed included sex workers, gay men and women, transgender people and those living with HIV and AIDS. Part of what made her such an effective activist was her refusal to discriminate. No matter the ethnicity, gender, class, religion or political affiliation, Sunila supported those in need. In 1998, Sunila was celebrated for her work when she received the UN Secretary General's Award for Human Rights. In the mid-2000s, Sunila joined several organizations and initiatives that sought to promote her work. Much of this work led to her nomination as one of the 1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize. And in 2007, Human Rights was awarded her its Human Rights Defender Award. Sunila never stopped using her voice to highlight injustice. And even though it caused her to have to flee her country more than once, she knew it would be a better place to live. In an interview, she said, when everyone is criticizing you, then you are doing the right thing. Sunila Abay-Sekira died of cancer on September 9, 2013 in Columbus, Sri Lanka. She was 61 years old. All month we're talking about peacebuilders. For more information, find us on Facebook, Twitter and Facebook. We'll be right back. You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram at Wovenica Podcast. Special thanks to co-creators Jenni and Liz Kaplan for having me on as a guest host. As always, we'll be taking a break for the weekend. Talk to you Monday!
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