In Sri Lanka, only 33.1% of women and girls participate in the labour force, compared to 70.7% of men and boys, which suggests that women and girls face barriers to economic participation (The World Bank, Gender Data Portal: Labour force participation). Of those women and girls who are in the labour force, 26.6% work in agriculture, compared to 25.3% of men and boys. The percentage of women and girls in vulnerable employment is 39.5%, which marks a slight increase over recent years; 37.1% of men and boys are in vulnerable employment (The World Bank, Sri Lanka).
Women and girls face cultural barriers to entering the workplace, with lower chances of being hired. Those who do find work often experience wage discrimination (International Labour Organization, Women at Work: The Course for Sri Lanka). Cultural norms in Sri Lanka mean that a woman’s or girl’s role is generally seen to be in the home, which creates barriers for women and girls who want to participate in the labour force. Women’s and girls’ work is viewed as childcare, elder-care and housework (The Daily: Why Sri Lankan women aren’t joining the workforce).
For 10% of women and girls in Sri Lanka, early marriage is a reality, and many other women and girls enter co-habitation arrangements that are outside of legal marriage but are recognised by their community. Early marriage in Sri Lanka is driven not only by cultural practices such as dowries, statutory rape and norms around honour for women and girls in pre-marital relations with men but also by conflict and disaster (Girls Not Brides, Child marriage atlas — Sri Lanka).
Sri Lanka has made significant gains in education rates among women and girls, achieving gender parity in primary and secondary completion rates. Women and girls have a primary completion rate of 97.9%, compared to 98.6% for men and boys (The World Bank, Gender data portal: Primary complete rate (% of relevant age group). For the lower-secondary level, women and girls and men and boys both have a 100% completion rate (The World Bank, Gender data portal: Lower secondary completion rate (% of relevant age group).
Sri Lanka is vulnerable to the effects of climate change and climate-related disasters, experiencing floods, storms, landslides, droughts and epidemics (The World Bank, Climate change knowledge portal vulnerability).
Approximately 10% of Sri Lanka’s population was exposed to drought between 2001 and 2013 (The World Bank, Climate risk country profile Sri Lanka). This puts pressure on water supplies, a challenge that disproportionately impacts the lives of women and girls, particularly in rural areas, as they are generally responsible for collecting water, fuel and food. Droughts can cause women and girls to travel greater distances to find clean water and fuel, which increases their unpaid labour time (Aita & Ahmed, The Intersection of Climate Change and Gender Equality in South Asia). Lack of water can also impact crop production and lead to food insecurity, putting additional pressure on women and girls to provide food for their households (The World Bank, Climate risk country profile Sri Lanka).
Floods — including river floods, flash floods and coastal floods — are another frequent occurrence. A particular hazard of flooding is that it can lead to further disasters such as landslides and epidemics. Women and girls are particularly vulnerable in disaster conditions, with increased exposure to unsafe sanitation, lack of healthcare and increased risk of gender-based violence (The World Bank, Climate risk country profile Sri Lanka).
Persons with disabilities account for 8.7% of Sri Lanka’s population. In the 2012 census data, 57% of women and girls were identified as having disabilities, compared to 43% of men and boys. The most prevalent disabilities for women and girls are impaired sight and mobility, followed by impaired hearing and cognition (Department of Census and Statistics, Disability in Sri Lanka).
In Sri Lanka, there is room for improvement when it comes to educational attainment of children with disabilities. Of those who were identified as having a disability in 2012, 34.6% reported having a primary school education, 33.8% a secondary school education and 13.9% no schooling at all (Department of Census and Statistics, Disability in Sri Lanka). Of those who attend school, many attend special education programmes within a broader school system. However, teacher training in working with children with special needs is inadequate and there is a lack of resources to support people with disabilities in the school system. Furthermore, not all classrooms and schools are physically accessible, making it difficult for people with physical or mobility-related disabilities to attend (International Labour Organization, Training and employment of people with disabilities: Sri Lanka 2003).
Persons with disabilities also face barriers to employment. Roughly two in three people with a disability are not economically active (Department of Census and Statistics, Disability in Sri Lanka). Many employers do not offer the necessary accommodations for mobility, such as lifts or accessible washrooms. As well, persons with disabilities face barriers to accessing vocational training to gain the skills they need for employment. For many people with disabilities, self-employment or community job-creation programmes are the best options for finding work.
Persons with disabilities in Sri Lanka face stigma and discrimination in their communities. They can be seen as bad luck, or their disability may be viewed as a punishment for something they did in a previous life (International Labour Organization, Training and employment of people with disabilities: Sri Lanka 2003). Women and girls with disabilities are seen as particularly vulnerable and in need of protection by family members, which can reduce their empowerment and agency.
For many people with disabilities, access to services in their communities is a significant barrier. People who live in rural communities have little access to infrastructure — for example, paved roads — that can accommodate the particular mobility needs that arise because of a physical disability. This can make accessing community services and activities challenging. Persons with disabilities face challenges in accessing the health services they need — for example, there is often a limited supply of assistive devices, such as wheelchairs and prostheses, and the locations of the services are not always accessible (International Labour Organization, Training and employment of people with disabilities: Sri Lanka 2003).
