Sri Lanka: CFWIJ stands in solidarity with women journalists against harassment and threats

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July 5, 2021- Several notable Sri Lankan women journalists took to Twitter and shared the horrible experiences they have endured through their careers. The latest revelations coming from these women journalists are described as the “Belated #MeToo movement” in Sri Lanka’s newsrooms. Sarah Kellapatha, Sahla Ilham, Aisha Nazim, and Jordana Narin are among the few brave women journalists who came forward with their struggle on Twitter. CFWIJ stands with them and asks the government to take necessary actions against the perpetrators. It is disconcerting that Sri Lankan media minister Keheliya Rambukwella retracted from his earlier stance on June 24. The minister has now advised affected women journalists to take legal action rather than investigating the matter upfront. 

Sarah Kellapatha shared her experience of suffering newsroom harassment at a daily newspaper she worked at from 2010 to 2017. She recalled it was almost impossible for a female to wear a dress and not feel harassed. They had to endure unsolicited salacious remarks from male colleagues about their bodies. Sarah shared in a Twitter thread, “I have had a male colleague threaten me with rape once, during a normal conversation we were having. It was also extremely triggering to see a video of him - now a lawyer - pop up on my Twitter feed a few days back, speaking to the media outside the Puttalam High Court.

Sahla Ilham, another female journalist, tweeted that she remained silent for too long after what happened to her, but now she feels compelled to speak out. Sahla shared in her Tweet, “After I started working at a reputed now-defunct newspaper, I was sexually harassed by a famous editor. It was to a point that he was controlling my family to stay quiet.” The journalist further said that the harasser mentioned in Jordana Narins’ statement is an acquaintance of her alleged assailant. She said she can confirm his abusive behavior, describing how he is quick to anger over insignificant things. “Do you see the power play between these men? Also, there are others - There are others here on Twitter affected by this man. However, they have their own story, and I am going to let them state what happened to them in their own words.” Sahla added in her tweet. 

Jordana Narin, a foreign correspondent, revealed her story on Twitter. Jordana, who joined The Daily News at 22 as an intern, was deliriously happy to learn she would be trained by an experienced editor. Much to her surprise, she was favored with big opportunities— clearly beyond her expertise— and then, to her chagrin, she was subjected to sexual harassment. Jordana shared her troubling experience of working under an abusive boss in a detailed statement. 

Aisha Nazim created a Twitter thread listing the testimonies shared by Sri Lankan women journalists. Speaking to CFWIJ on what led her to compile a thread on these experiences, Ayesha Nazim shared, "Seeing one of my former newsroom perpetrators bully someone else relentlessly on Twitter, and then say he was going to crowdfund for a new media organisation to be run by him. I’d brought up the bullying in a conversation (on the same platform) earlier, and his response was that he was ‘petty like that’. So when I saw this happen repeatedly followed by a crowdfunding request, something flipped – I wasn’t going to allow him to do the same things over and over again, with other women who might end up on his path."

"Soon after my initial post, a couple of other women spoke up about their experiences as well. I knew of many similar instances with other perps and where the affected women didn’t want to come out publicly, so I just threaded them together since there were a few public responses," she added further.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism stands in solidarity with the courageous women who shared their painful experiences with workplace harassment and misconduct. We demand the Sri Lankan Media ministry investigate the allegations made by the affected women journalists. We hope the government will take action towards making the newsroom environment safe for women journalists in light of the recent accounts of threats and violations against them.