SPW deeply laments the departure of our dear friend and collaborator, Sunila Abeysekera, a leading feminist and human rights activist from Sri Lanka whose legacies in regard to local and global work on conflict, women’s and LGBTQI rights and human rights defenders will continue inspiring us.
“Friends and comrades of dear Sunila across the globe are mourning and remembering her this day and for a very long time to come. For so many of us, she was a beacon of the very best meaning of feminism – committed, strong, principled, brilliant, but always able to laugh and find life’s beauties. I am glad she was able to be at home, surrounded by loved ones, in these last days – for her birthday and then passing. The circle of close friends and family around her are also models of devotion and loving kindness the likes of which I’ve rarely seen in my life, and we owe them all so much for keeping us connected far and wide. Sunila lives, and will live, through all the people she affected with the clarity of her politics and the radiance of her smile.”
Rosalind Petchesky – political scientist and Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Hunter College, City University of New York.