The Hon. (Mrs.) Chamindranee Kiriella, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, today marks the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence declared by the United Nations, running annually from 25 November to 10 December, beginning on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and ending on Human Rights Day, to raise awareness and mobilize action. The 2025 global theme reminds us to “UNiTE! Ending Digital Violence Against All Women and Girls.”

¶ 02 A study shows frequent online abuses: fake profiles and sharing obscene texts/videos (36.9%), doctored videos/images (25.2%), doxxing (24.3%), gender trolling (24.3%), and cyber blackmail (sextortion/revenge porn) (20.4%). These are alarming. In Sri Lanka, 20% of women—one in five—endure some form of violence. Section 345 of the Penal Code criminalizes sexual harassment with imprisonment up to five years or a fine or both, and allows compensation.

¶ 03 In Sinhala: The 16 Days campaign runs in Sri Lanka too, within and outside Parliament. One in five women here face violence—verbal, physical, or psychological. Recently, even within this Parliament, a senior female journalist suffered verbal and psychological abuse. Despite claims of planting “saplings,” certain government members behave like “bees circling flowers,” inflicting harm. I express regret and urge attention from the Hon. Prime Minister to incidents affecting women Members across the aisle as well.

¶ 04 Thank you.