The Women and Media Collective is a feminist organization based in Sri Lanka that advocates for women’s rights, increased female political representation, and legal protections for victims of domestic violence and LGBT individuals. The group was formed in 1984 and has contributed to multiple National Action Plans in Sri Lanka regarding women’s issues and immigration. Other issues covered by the group include women’s land rights, single women and female heads of households, peace-making and peacebuilding, and media reforms. The group has expanded its work into other South Asian countries including India and Indonesia. 1
The group has received funding from the left-of-center Ford Foundation. 2
Background
The Women and Media Collective was founded in Sri Lanka in 1984 to advance women’s rights and “feminist principles” in the country. The group has operated a variety of public awareness and political advocacy campaigns lobbying the Sri Lankan government to include women and gender concerns in a variety of public policies, including modernizing the legal system to give women equal status to men. The group states that it worked to create national action plans for Sri Lanka, some in relation to multilateral initiatives, that have contributed to “the formulation of the National Women’s Charter, the National Action Plans for Women and the Migrant Rights Policy” in the Sri Lankan government. 3
Policy goals of the organization include “the inclusion of women and gender concerns in the peace process, increased state recognition of women’s rights, the enactment of new legislation or legislative and policy reform promoting and protecting women’s rights, and recognition for the need to increase women’s representation in politics.” The group also coordinated a campaign that it states led to the enactment of Sri Lanka’s Domestic Violence Act of 2005. 4
Activity
The Women and Media Collective has operated dozens of projects and initiatives on a variety of issues regarding prostitution, gender identity, LGBT issues, and immigration issues. Regarding prostitution, the group published materials calling for prostitution to be decriminalized and to update the nation’s brothel laws. 5
The group also opposed a 2020 proposed constitutional amendment in Sri Lanka to limit the media’s independence and give the president vast powers, including the power to dissolve the parliament. 6
The group also published a study regarding violent extremism in India, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka that explored marriage, political violence, and Islam’s impact on women, among other topics. The report was funded by the International Development Research Centre in Ottawa, Canada. 7
Funding
The Ford Foundation, a left-of-center U.S.-based grantmaking foundation that is among the largest private foundations in the United States, has provided funding to the Women and Media Collective three times according to the foundation’s grants database. 8
In 2008, the Ford Foundation granted $122,500 to the organization for “General support to sharpen the organization’s work on women’s rights and ensure organizational sustainability.” In 2009, the Foundation contributed $750,000 in “Tie-off general support to bring about change based on feminist principles, within a rights framework, for a society free from violence and militarization and to establish an endowment,” and in 2018, it granted $300,000 for “For research, advocacy and public education to recognize and reduce women’s unpaid care work in Sri Lanka through expanding labor force definitions and improving care facilities for elders, persons with disabilities and young children.” 9
References
- “Who We Are.” Women and Media Collective. Accessed June 9, 2024. https://womenandmedia.org/who-we-are/
- “Women and Media Collective 108143.” Ford Foundation. Accessed June 9, 2024. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/awarded-grants/grants-database/the-women-and-media-collective-108143/
- “Who We Are.” Women and Media Collective. Accessed June 9, 2024. https://womenandmedia.org/who-we-are/
- “Who We Are.” Women and Media Collective. Accessed June 9, 2024. https://womenandmedia.org/who-we-are/
- Legal Recognition for Sex Workers in Sri Lanka.” Women and Media Collective. Accessed June 9, 2024. https://womenandmedia.org/legal-recognition-for-sex-workers-in-sri-lanka/
- “Statement on the 20th Amendment Bill.” Women and Media Collective. October 8, 2020. Accessed June 9, 2024. https://womenandmedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20A-Statement_English_WMC.pdf
- “Home.” Gendering Violent Extremism. Accessed June 9, 2024. https://www.genderingviolentextremism.com/
- [1] “Women and Media Collective.” Ford Foundation Grants Database. Query Conducted June 9, 2024. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/awarded-grants/grants-database/?search=Women+and+Media+Collective
- “Women and Media Collective.” Ford Foundation Grants Database. Query Conducted June 9, 2024. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/awarded-grants/grants-database/?search=Women+and+Media+Collective