• WPC & PCIPD condemn recent Sethsiripaya incident 

The Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus (WPC) and the Parliamentary Caucus for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities (PCIPD) condemned the incident on 5 April at the Sethsiripaya where a woman with disabilities was obstructed from utilising her transportation services to leave the premises and was informed that vehicle access was exclusively reserved for very important persons while the language used by the relevant security officers has been highly insensitive, disrespectful, and hurtful. 

Persons with disabilities make up 9% of Sri Lanka’s population and often face discrimination and harassment in various spheres when they access different services, carry out their activities of daily life, and participate in their communities. Persons with disabilities also often experience difficulties due to the lack of necessary infrastructure and provisions such as sign language interpretation, disability friendly educational and employment facilities, and accessible transport. 

Sri Lanka ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2016, undertaking the responsibility to ‘promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity’. 

The Constitution also guarantees the right of equal access to shops, restaurants, hotels, places of public entertainment and worship, regardless of disability (Article 12 [3]). Therefore, the Government is obliged to ensure that persons with disabilities have comfortable access to all public buildings. Moreover, the Constitution further states that special provisions can be made by law, subordinate legislation or Executive action, for the advancement of women or disabled persons (Article 12 [4]). As such, Sri Lanka must uphold her promises for the advancement of the welfare of persons with disabilities, and strive to ensure that their rights are protected.

A recent release issued by the WPC and PCIPD noted: “This incident highlights the intersectionality of discrimination and obstacles encountered by persons due to multiple identities. The individual concerned here is a woman with a disability rendering her particularly vulnerable to daily challenges. Therefore, it is incumbent upon the Government to factor in all these circumstances and strive to alleviate some of their burdens. The National Secretariat for Persons with Disabilities, the Passport Office and many more government services are regularly accessed by persons with disabilities. Since the security services to the government offices in Battaramulla are the primary responsibility of the Urban Development Authority (UDA), we also urge the UDA to take necessary action to sensitise and educate the security officers on inclusive treatment and the use of inclusive language when dealing with women and persons with disabilities. We urge that the staff of Sethsiripaya (and other public spaces) be appropriately sensitised and informed about the rights of persons with disabilities. Moreover, we particularly urge government officers to be aware and informed of the needs of persons with disabilities and to anticipate and make necessary provisions when conducting any future programmes.”