"Women in Law" - October 2021

The Young Feminist Network Newsletter

October 16, 2021

The Young Feminist Network was established in July 2020 by Everystory Sri Lanka to bring together people interested in learning more about feminism, particularly from a Sri Lankan and South Asian perspective.

This month, our newsletter is curated on the theme of “Women in Law".

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Dear Reader,

We are excited to bring you this month’s Newsletter, curated around the theme of "Women in Law" . We feature academics and professionals reflecting on their own experiences as women in the legal field, on law and law-making, accompanied by valuable advice to girls and women who want to pursue a career in the legal profession. In a field as inherently patriarchal as the legal "fraternity", where most women are underrepresented and marginalized, it is essential that we have strong, inspiring, and diverse women to learn from and look up to, and more inclusive principles and theories on justice which reflect our own values.

My favourite section in this Newsletter is the Interview Segment of Attorney-at-Law and Activist, Nethmini Madawela and Attorney-at-Law and Litigator/Counsel, Mokshini Jayamanne. The Interviews consist of both their experiences via different forms of involvement in the legal field. Nethmini approaches the legal system with the eyes of an activist and demonstrates how the feminist movement has shaped a legal system to be more gender-inclusive. While Mokshini discusses her personal experience as a practitioner, beautifully articulating what kept her going, and how her values are reflected in her practice. I hope you will enjoy this newsletter as much as I did putting it together and facilitates, in any possible way, your growth as a feminist and brings perspective to your journey.

As always, we'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback. We value the complimentary and the critical equally, so please share! You can get in touch via email at [email protected]

In Solidarity,

Stefania Perera,

YFN Newsletter Editor - October

YFN Program Manager - Everystory Sri Lanka

The Reading List this month will be curated by our very own Widya Kumarasinghe, Co-founder of ESSL. She is training to become a barrister with the intention of pursuing a career in Family Law. Her research and professional interests involve the intersections of law, gender, and technology; and how alternative families might navigate a changing social and bioethics landscape using the law. Widya combines her work and academic experience in the legal field with her interest in the history of women in law to discuss why a feminist perspective can bring about a more intersectional and equal approach to law-making, legal practice, and achieving Justice.

The reading list will be released later this month, and you will find it in your inbox ready to provide you with a list of exciting readings!

The Interview Segment

Each month, we reach out to people who will reflect on the theme and share their insights as to how it relates to their lives and work. For this month's interviews, we reached out to Attorney-at-Law and Activist, Nethmini Madawela, and Attorney-at-Law, Mokshini Jayamanne.

Nethmini Medawala shares her thoughts on the interconnection of Feminism and Law, with an insight of readings, advice, and suggestions on how the feminist movement can aid to bring in a legal system that is more gender-equal.

Click here to read on the experience of Attorney-at-Law, Mokshini Jayamanne as a lawyer with over 15 years of practice in the Sri Lankan legal field. Mokshini provides an insight into her journey as a lawyer who reflects her values in her practice and gives out suggestions to young women and girls who want to pursue this profession.

Did you know?

In this article, we composed few red flags to watch out for before signing your next contract! "Legalese" can be a bit confusing and we are here to help with some pointers! Have a look.

Also Explore...

Shreen Saroor runs the Women’s Action Network (WAN) in Sri Lanka, a collective of women’s groups that empowers and advocates for women and women survivors of war, violence, and other injustices. As the Generation Equality Forum – a landmark event to catalyze rapid advancement on gender equality – approaches, she calls on leaders to close the gaps between policies and implementation.

“As I’ve got older, I have begun to realize that women have been put down for so long that reservation is absolutely essential.”- Justice Leila Seth. Justice Seth was the first woman judge of the Delhi High Court, and the first woman to become Chief Justice of a State in India. In this TED Talk, she discusses dowry and inheritance in India, and the poor impact India's Laws have towards resolving this issue.

“But can we trust the Taliban on women’s rights?” has been a burning question for journalists and human rights activists. The answer used to be “no”; the answer now is that it doesn’t matter much. The Taliban have swept back into power, and dealing with them is the reality again for Afghan women and girls.

Instagram Pages to Follow!

Sisters at Law is a non-profit organization chaired by human rights lawyer Marini De Livera and provides legal assistance to survivors of gender-based violence in Sri Lanka.

Poetry

"Right To Learn" is Priya's personal story of fighting for a good education and how it needs to be a right for every single girl and not a chance, or luxury.

This poem was written by Arshia Agrawal which communicates creatively how every right in this world also belongs to women as much as men.

Paid Work Opportunities

The company is looking for a positive, engaged, well-disciplined, work hard and play hard professional who is ready to oversee and develop our young Legal Support team. Refer to the link below for more information.

World Vision International is an evangelical Christian humanitarian aid, development, and advocacy organization. It prefers to present itself as interdenominational and employs staff from non-evangelical Christian denominations.

Education

The economy is not gender-neutral but actually relies on gender imbalances to function and grow. The Institute for New Economic Thinking is offering a series of lectures on Feminist Economics from their collection of Gender Economics, featuring Professor Jayati Ghosh, (Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Former Professor of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University.).

The programs offer conceptual clarity of issues related to gender, justice, and feminist practice, it provides scope for developing strong leadership and communication skills along with building intersectional problem-solving, impactful advocacy for human rights, and capacities to mobilize communities to be transformative. For more information, refer to the link below.

This self-paced course provides an overview of women's health and human rights, beginning in infancy and childhood, then moving through adolescence, reproductive years and aging. We consider economic, social, political and human rights factors, and the challenges women face in maintaining health and managing their lives in the face of societal pressures and obstacles.

Every month, Kopi Collective, in collaboration with Everystory Sri Lanka calls for submissions by its members to be featured in the YFN Newsletter.

Find this month's submission on the theme of Women in Law.

Learning Circle Sessions

Every month, we feature the work and story of a member of the Young Feminist Network with the hope of inspiring and learning from each other.

This month we will be hosting the inspiring Ambika Satkunanathan, an outstanding human rights lawyer, researcher, and advocate based in Sri Lanka with extensive experience working with national and international organizations like the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, the Clooney Foundation, and the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime. The October Learning Circle will focus on Feminist Perspectives on the Criminal Justice System and will take place on the 22nd of October (Friday) from 6.30 PM onwards. To reserve one of only 25 slots available for the session, please sign up for the google form here on or before the 19th of October 2021.

If you want to suggest any particular topic for our Featured Speaker sessions and learning opportunities, please fill in this Google Form and let us know!

Follow this link to read our October Member Spotlight!

For more on the Support Team, read here.

Follow Everystory Sri Lanka on Social Media:

Who can Join? 

Anyone can sign up for the newsletter! Sign up now on the below link to be added to the database:

Women, girls, and transgender/non-binary individuals who are of Sri Lankan heritage are also invited to join our Facebook group “Young Feminist Network by ESSL”

Sharing Information with the Network?

ESSL is conscious of the ethical handling of the data we hold of our members and their privacy. In order to respect the feminist values through which we try to shape our day-to-day work and the vetting we carry out of all information and opportunities we send out, we ask that members please refrain from directly emailing the YFN mailing list or using the reply all feature.

If you do have any information which might be of interest to the Network, please send it across to the ESSL team so we share it via appropriate channels.

Tag us in your work, questions, thoughts, and ideas! Share what you are doing and tell us more about what you would like to see!

Instagram: @everystory.sl 

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