The Abhimani Women's Collective is an organisation first established in 2014 by the late S.M. Kusum Jayalath. A sex worker herself, Jayalath, together with three other co-founders established Abhimani Women's Collective with the intention of providing grassroots level assistance to female sex workers. She also set out to address the issues faced by domestic abuse victims and children suffering from abuse.
Speaking with the current chairperson of the organisation (who wished to remain anonymous) who took on the mantle after Jayalath’s unfortunate passing, she shared that the organisation was borne of a desperate need to address the many challenges faced by a community of persons whom are providing a service, day in and day out, without any legal protection while also facing constant scrutiny and discrimination from society.
She shared that as a registered organisation, they have engaged in numerous projects in collaboration with the National STD/AIDS Control Programme and the Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka in providing healthcare assistance to sex workers in their administrative areas of Negombo, Ragama, and the general Gampaha District.
They have engaged in activities such as directing sex workers to STD testing facilities to get tested, assisting PLHIV persons to gain access to medication, facilitating legal support for sex workers facing legal challenges, and also providing assistance to women living in violent environments and children growing up in abusive homes.
The current chairperson went on to share that sex workers are a subsect of society whom are subject to extreme discrimination, ridicule, and shame. She said “they are ‘othered’, even by those who frequently seek out their services”. She said that often, there are numerous married men who associate with sex workers in the night and then look down and spit on the same woman the next morning when they are with their significant others. “Why is it okay for people to accept the services of sex workers but not okay for them to engage in the profession?”
She further shared that due to the lack of institutional support and acceptance for sex workers, they are one of the largest groups whom are routinely exploited due to their vulnerability. Often, she said, they see policemen who would accept a sex worker’s services and then arrest them for the same thing. She shared that the general lack of empathy at the hands of these authorities have caused a great deal of stress for the community.
She shared that there are some organisations who lend their assistance from time to time, noting that with Abhimani Women's Collective being such a small organisation, with barely any funding, currently suffering the loss of their offices and having absolutely no staff, they’ve relied on persons like Hans Billimoria and Paba Deshapriya, the Directors of The Grassrooted Trust, to help those in need and to carry out their objectives.
She shared that some of the daily challenges faced by the sex worker community are those which effect their children. Many of them have young children who do not have any documentation; they do not have birth certificates or any form of identification. Therefore, they cannot be enrolled in any schools, and when their mothers must go to work, the children are often left to their own devices, leaving them vulnerable to predators who abuse them and take advantage of them. “Too often have we seen children suffer the consequences of their circumstances, and that is what Abhimani Women's Collective has set out to address.”
Speaking with the current chairperson of the organisation (who wished to remain anonymous) who took on the mantle after Jayalath’s unfortunate passing, she shared that the organisation was borne of a desperate need to address the many challenges faced by a community of persons whom are providing a service, day in and day out, without any legal protection while also facing constant scrutiny and discrimination from society.
She shared that as a registered organisation, they have engaged in numerous projects in collaboration with the National STD/AIDS Control Programme and the Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka in providing healthcare assistance to sex workers in their administrative areas of Negombo, Ragama, and the general Gampaha District.
They have engaged in activities such as directing sex workers to STD testing facilities to get tested, assisting PLHIV persons to gain access to medication, facilitating legal support for sex workers facing legal challenges, and also providing assistance to women living in violent environments and children growing up in abusive homes.
The current chairperson went on to share that sex workers are a subsect of society whom are subject to extreme discrimination, ridicule, and shame. She said “they are ‘othered’, even by those who frequently seek out their services”. She said that often, there are numerous married men who associate with sex workers in the night and then look down and spit on the same woman the next morning when they are with their significant others. “Why is it okay for people to accept the services of sex workers but not okay for them to engage in the profession?”
She further shared that due to the lack of institutional support and acceptance for sex workers, they are one of the largest groups whom are routinely exploited due to their vulnerability. Often, she said, they see policemen who would accept a sex worker’s services and then arrest them for the same thing. She shared that the general lack of empathy at the hands of these authorities have caused a great deal of stress for the community.
She shared that there are some organisations who lend their assistance from time to time, noting that with Abhimani Women's Collective being such a small organisation, with barely any funding, currently suffering the loss of their offices and having absolutely no staff, they’ve relied on persons like Hans Billimoria and Paba Deshapriya, the Directors of The Grassrooted Trust, to help those in need and to carry out their objectives.
She shared that some of the daily challenges faced by the sex worker community are those which effect their children. Many of them have young children who do not have any documentation; they do not have birth certificates or any form of identification. Therefore, they cannot be enrolled in any schools, and when their mothers must go to work, the children are often left to their own devices, leaving them vulnerable to predators who abuse them and take advantage of them. “Too often have we seen children suffer the consequences of their circumstances, and that is what Abhimani Women's Collective has set out to address.”