Case Studies

Women local leaders and human rights defenders in Northern Sri Lanka routinely face steep obstacles, ranging from deeply entrenched patriarchal gender norms at home to public character attacks. In today's digital age, these barriers increasingly manifest as targeted online harassment and cyber harassment campaigns designed to intimidate women and silence their public voice.

For Mary Alan Arthi Valentine Kanchan, a 42-year-old activist from Jimron Nagar in Mannar District, overcoming these challenges required transforming digital threats into actionable advocacy. Supported by Chrysalis through the BRIDGE Project and earlier initiatives, Arthi has emerged as the President of the Mannar CSO Federation, a digital safety advocate, and a local government candidate.

The Challenge: Compounding Social Norms and Cyber Threats

Arthi’s journey into social activism met severe resistance early on. Challenging traditional gender roles brought intense criticism, domestic friction, and social pressure from extended family attempting to force her compliance and exit from public life.

When she stood her ground and continued advocating against institutional inertia, the resistance escalated into targeted online harassment. False rumors and defamatory social media posts were circulated to destroy her reputation and intimidate her family. In Mannar District, accessing digital safety and legal redress is particularly difficult because cybercrime complaints are primarily handled by the Cyber Crime Division in Jaffna—geographically and institutionally distant from rural women activists.

Strategic Interventions: Digital Advocacy, Legal Action, and Civic Mobilization

Through Chrysalis and the BRIDGE Project, Arthi built a powerful toolkit combining leadership, ICT skills, and human rights advocacy:

Digital Safety & Cybercrime Reporting: Completed comprehensive training in data protection, password security, mobile communication, and the Online Safety Act. When targeted by defamatory online attacks, she gathered evidence and formally reported the issue to the Cyber Crime Division in Jaffna, the Legal Aid Commission, and women’s rights organizations, securing a full resolution within one week.

Cascading Community Awareness: Conducted digital safety and online security awareness sessions for community-based organization (CBO) members, mothers, and women across her village to build grassroots digital resilience.

Ministerial and High-Level Advocacy: Engaged directly with the Minister of Women and Child Affairs alongside CSO representatives to highlight the cyber safety and digital threats faced by women leaders across the Northern Province, prompting commitments for coordinated police and state action.

Economic & Rights-Based Leadership: Initiated a home garden initiative for survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) to build economic independence. Additionally, she sparked a public protest against beneficiary discrimination in state welfare schemes, inspiring similar rights-based movements in neighboring districts.

"I realized that to create real change in the community, I first had to transform my own family. By challenging norms within my household, I could pave the way for leadership... Through the BRIDGE Project, I learned how to respond to cyber harassment, report online abuse, and guide other women on digital safety and security."

— Mary Alan Arthi, President, Mannar CSO Federation

Measurable Results and Community Impact

Arthi’s courage and technical capacity have translated into systemic, multi-sector outcomes:

Elected Leadership: Thrice elected President of the Mannar CSO Federation (2021, 2023, and 2025), unifying 40 civil society organizations across the district.

Political Empowerment: Nominated to contest in local government elections, breaking structural barriers around women's political participation.

Rapid Legal Redress: Successfully demonstrated that digital safety training enables women activists to achieve swift legal resolution against online abuse.

District-Wide Public Forums: Organized multi-stakeholder town hall sessions with local and provincial authorities addressing land disputes, GBV, public property issues, and environmental protection.

Looking Ahead: Securing Women’s Public Voice

Arthi’s journey shows that equipping women leaders with digital safety tools and rights-based training turns personal resistance into widespread public impact. By establishing clear reporting pathways and advocating at national levels, the BRIDGE Project ensures that women can speak through barriers and shape the future of their communities safely.

In the coastal fishing communities of Mannar District, local livelihoods are under threat from illegal bottom-trawling by Indian vessels and unaddressed environmental concerns surrounding large-scale projects like wind farms. Simultaneously, deeply ingrained social norms marginalize vulnerable groups—particularly widows and persons with disabilities—excluding them from public leadership and community life.

Reeta Vasanthi Kathiramalai, a 65-year-old widow, person with a disability, and head of household from Jimron Nagar, has transformed these intersecting challenges into a platform for rights-based advocacy. Supported by Chrysalis through the BRIDGE Project and earlier capacity-building initiatives, Reeta has emerged as a national and regional leader for fisheries justice, disability rights, and women’s dignity.

The Challenge: Resource Conflicts, Social Exclusion, and Environmental Threats

Small-scale coastal communities in Jimron Nagar face a constellation of systemic issues:

Fisheries & Livelihood Destruction: Illegal Indian trawlers destroy marine ecosystems and local fishing gear, directly threatening small-scale fishermen and women involved in dry fish processing.

Unaddressed Environmental Concerns: Local residents faced difficulties formally raising environmental and community impacts of the Mannar windmill project due to a lack of governance and legal advocacy pathways.

Deeply Entrenched Norms against Widows: Widowed for 15 years, Reeta experienced severe social exclusion. Cultural norms barred widows from wearing the pottu (forehead spot) and treated them as "unlucky," excluding them from weddings and cultural rituals.

Intersectional Exclusion: Living with a disability and adapting her livelihood from dry fish production to sewing, Reeta lacked the institutional pathways and legal tools needed to structure grassroots grievances into rights-based demands.

Strategic Interventions: Rights-Based Advocacy and Cross-Border Networks

Through Chrysalis, the TRANSFORM Project, and the BRIDGE Project, Reeta completed comprehensive training in human rights, governance, leadership, and conflict sensitivity, deploying these skills across multiple sectors:

Cross-Border Fisheries Advocacy: Extended her advocacy beyond local forums to build cross-border civil society networks across countries, highlighting the systemic impact of bottom-trawling and demanding sustainable marine resource governance.

Challenging Discriminatory Norms: Made the deliberate personal decision to wear the pottu despite intense community pressure, transforming a visible mark of exclusion into an act of dignity and social norm resistance.

Community Legal Referral Resource: Functions as a grassroots legal gateway in Mannar, connecting victims of domestic violence, land disputes, and human rights violations with legal aid organizations and lawyers.

Multi-Organizational Leadership: Serves as President of the National Fisheries Solidarity Movement (NAFSO) for Colombo and Mannar, President of the Mannar District Disability Association (Velicham), and President of the Emil Nagar Women’s Rural Development Society (WRDS).

"The ill-treatment of a widow is considered as a social norm in my society... The empowerment created by Chrysalis gave me the strength to face the criticism of my community for keeping the 'spot'. Now I look more beautiful when I see the mirror. I am now confident in myself for challenging society for the discrimination against women."

— Reeta Vasanthi Kathiramalai, President, NAFSO & Mannar District Disability Association (Velicham)

Measurable Results and Intersectional Impact

Reeta’s applied leadership has achieved concrete community and structural results:

Sustained Institutional Platforms: Mobilizes grassroots voices through leadership roles across NAFSO, Velicham, and the local WRDS, securing representation for disabled persons and fisherfolk in governance discussions.

Environmental & Maritime Voice: Formally articulated community grievances regarding windmill projects and Indian trawlers in public protests, policy dialogues, and international civil society forums.

Reclaiming Widow Dignity: Inspired other widows across nearby villages to resist discriminatory cultural practices and participate actively in public life.

Grassroots Awareness & Protection: Regularly conducts community sessions on gender-based violence (GBV), disability rights, and legal protection across Mannar District.

Looking Ahead: Amplifying Marginalized Voices

Reeta Vasanthi’s journey demonstrates how equipping leaders facing multiple forms of marginalization creates powerful, multi-sector ripple effects. By linking rights-based training to fisheries, disability rights, and social norm change, the BRIDGE Project ensures that community development leaves no one behind.

In Sri Lanka’s post-war context, access to agricultural land is directly tied to economic independence, food security, and long-term community recovery. For war-affected communities in remote areas like Mullaitivu District, severe land scarcity limits families to day-labor work, entrenching cycles of poverty.

In Arumugathankulam, a small agricultural village in Kumulamunai, around 127 families returned from civil war displacement only to find themselves restricted to plots of one acre or less—insufficient for sustainable paddy or field crop farming. Ranisla, a local community leader and former Local Council Member, has spearheaded a multi-year advocacy campaign using rights-based mechanisms to secure agricultural land access for displaced and land-poor families.

The Challenge: Post-War Displacement, Abandoned Land, and Structural Barriers

The agricultural potential of Arumugathankulam remains heavily constrained despite its proximity to the Thannimurippu Tank water resources. The situation is closely tied to the neighboring village of Andankulam, historically a traditional Tamil farming village. In 1984, military operations forced Andankulam’s entire population—around 40 families—to flee, leaving its rich agricultural land abandoned and overgrown for over four decades.

Families displaced from Andankulam settled in Arumugathankulam without adequate land to resume farming. Without formal land release and official allocation mechanisms, these war-affected households remained dependent on low-wage daily labor, unable to build sustainable economic futures.

Strategic Interventions: Right to Information and Multi-Level Advocacy

Supported by Chrysalis through the TRANSFORM Project and the BRIDGE Programme, Ranisla transformed a historical resettlement grievance into a structured, rights-based economic claim:

Multi-Level Representation: Beginning in 2019, Ranisla submitted formal written requests to the Maritimepattu Divisional Secretary and advocated directly before the Governor of the Northern Province and Divisional Coordination Committee (DCC) forums.

RTI as an Accountability Tool: Filed strategic Right to Information (RTI) applications to obtain official documentation regarding land release status. This established a paper trail that converted institutional assurances into binding public commitments.

BRIDGE Town Hall Platforms: Utilized town hall sessions under the BRIDGE Programme to bring visibility to the landlessness of Arumugathankulam and Andankulam families before key state decision-makers.

Systematic Administrative Follow-Up: Maintained continuous institutional pressure across six years to ensure the bureaucratic process moved from policy discussions to formal government surveying.

"We waited more than forty years for this land. We are still waiting—but now we know the wait has an end... Through the Town Hall sessions and RTI, we placed our needs on the official record. That record cannot be erased, and we will follow it until the land is in our hands."

— Ranisla, Community Representative & Former Local Council Member

Measurable Results: Unlocking 67 Hectares for Livelihood Recovery

Ranisla’s persistent, multi-channel campaign has delivered direct, verifiable institutional progress:

Land Release Achieved (2023): Following sustained advocacy, the Department of Wildlife formally initiated the release of 67 hectares of land in Andankulam village that had been inaccessible for more than 42 years.

Formal Land Survey (2024): The Department of Survey completed the official boundary survey for the 67-hectare area.

Survey Plan Submission & Distribution Process (2025): The official survey plan was submitted to the Divisional Secretary, who confirmed that land distribution will proceed via a government land mobile service and local Grama Niladhari officers.

Impact on 125+ Families: Secured formal progress toward restoring agricultural livelihoods for approximately 125 to 127 war-affected families.

Looking Ahead: Securing Sustainable Livelihoods

Ranisla’s journey demonstrates how equipping local leaders with RTI tools, advocacy skills, and institutional access turns long-standing post-war grievances into actionable governance outcomes. By connecting land rights to economic recovery, the BRIDGE Programme continues to empower Northern Province communities to claim their rights and rebuild their lives.

In post-conflict districts like Mullaitivu in Northern Sri Lanka, communities have faced decades of institutional neglect, opaque public decision-making, and inadequate responses to basic service needs. While grassroots activists frequently witness these governance failures firsthand, challenging duty bearers effectively requires formal advocacy frameworks, legal rights knowledge, and structured documentation skills.

Imaguletta Pushpananthan, a long-serving social activist from Mullaitivu Town, transformed her frontline community experience into systemic political leadership. Supported by Chrysalis through the BRIDGE Programme and the Mullaitivu District Civil Societies Organisations Federation, Imaguletta has progressed from a community advocate to the Chairman of the Maritimepattu Pradeshiya Sabha.

The Challenge: Governance Gaps and Obstacles to Accountable Leadership

For years, local authorities and provincial institutions in Mullaitivu were rarely held accountable for public commitments regarding safety, protection, or women's rights:

Lack of Formal Accountability Pathways: Community concerns were often raised informally, leaving local officials free to ignore grievances without creating an official paper trail.

Institutional Access Barriers: Activists lacked structured platforms to question duty bearers directly on resource allocation, public budgets, or service delivery gaps.

Gaps in Technical Framing: Grassroots leaders understood local problems intimately but lacked training in human rights framing, ICT-based evidence gathering, and formal petition design needed to compel institutional responses.

Strategic Interventions: Capacity Building, Shadow Town Halls, and Multi-Level Advocacy

Through the BRIDGE Programme beginning in 2023, Imaguletta underwent a sequenced capacity-building journey designed to turn community voices into enforceable rights claims:

Rigorous Advocacy & Governance Training: Mastered ICT for evidence documentation, human rights framing, resource allocation tracking, and town hall facilitation.

Facilitating Shadow Town Halls: Organized and led shadow town hall sessions in Mullaitivu, bringing community members and government department heads into structured dialogues where authorities were required to respond on the record.

Cascading Impact to 100+ Leaders: Functioned as a multiplier by training approximately 100 participants across women's societies, civil society networks, and women's groups in Mullaitivu District on rights-based documentation and structured governance engagement.

Provincial & National Representation: Escalated grassroots demands to the highest levels, engaging the Governor of the Northern Province on women’s safety and representing Mullaitivu in national-level discussions with the Minister of Women’s Affairs.

"BRIDGE changed my life by turning my voice into action and helping me become a leader in my community."

— Imaguletta Pushpananthan, Chairman, Maritimepattu Pradeshiya Sabha

Measurable Results: From Community Advocate to Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman

Imaguletta’s structured advocacy delivered direct, multi-tiered governance outcomes:

Elected Public Authority: Elected as Chairman of the Maritimepattu Pradeshiya Sabha, transitioning from demanding transparency from local government to directly delivering it.

Institutionalized Town Hall Dialogue: Established documented accountability mechanisms between district government departments and community members on public safety, waste management, and social protection.

Replicated Advocacy Network: Equipped over 100 local women and civil society members with the technical skills to independently track public resource allocations and demand answers from state institutions.

Policy Engagement: Placed Mullaitivu's gender representation and safety concerns on the formal record of both provincial leadership and national ministries.

Looking Ahead: Transforming Local Governance

Imaguletta Pushpananthan’s transition demonstrates the ultimate potential of rights-based capacity building. By equipping local women leaders with accountability tools, the BRIDGE Programme not only empowers civil society to petition institutions but builds the next generation of transparent, responsive public administrators.

For war widows, female heads of households, and families facing long-term post-war displacement in Sri Lanka’s Mullaitivu District, village-level community groups often operate in isolation. Without organized, transparent district-level structures, women's needs—spanning sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) protection, livelihood support, and political representation—frequently remain invisible to government decision-makers.

Rajeswary Sridharan, 57, a former Local Council Member from Oddaruthakulam Village, transformed this landscape by taking on district-wide governance. Supported by Chrysalis through the Transform Project and the BRIDGE Programme, Rajeswary transitioned from local community activism to leading the Yugasakthy Women Federation, expanding its reach to 153 affiliated groups and approximately 3,400 members across Mullaitivu.

The Challenge: Fragmented Community Action and Institutional Isolation

In Mullaitivu, isolated village organizations lacked the scale, institutional connections, and technical tools required to engage district authorities effectively:

Systemic Interconnected Vulnerabilities: Poverty, lack of micro-credit oversight, SGBV, and political exclusion reinforced one another, leaving women without a coordinated platform to demand rights or access legal protection.

Gaps in District-Level Advocacy: Small village societies lacked the structured governance frameworks to aggregate grassroots concerns, manage complex donor projects, or engage government duty bearers.

Leadership and Governance Barriers: Scaling community leadership from a single village group to a district federation required specialized skills in financial oversight, conflict sensitivity, and transparent administration.

Strategic Interventions: Transparent Governance, SGBV Response, and Capacity Cascading

Beginning in 2018, Rajeswary underwent a comprehensive series of capacity-building initiatives under the Transform Project and BRIDGE Programme

Rigorous Capacity Development: Completed training in public accountability, transparent resource allocation, advocacy design, conflict sensitivity, and the Political Readiness Programme.

Systemic Internal Governance: Instituted structured, transparent management for micro-credit, savings groups, and regular cluster meetings across 153 affiliated women's groups.

Cascading Leadership (The Multiplier Effect): Personally trained cluster leaders in accountability, leadership, and rights-based advocacy, cascading governance skills throughout the entire federation.

Integrated Survivor Support & Livelihoods: Built structured referral networks for SGBV survivors while securing equitable livelihood support and educational assistance for vulnerable children and female-headed households.

"I came as a member of a small village group. Now I train others to lead. The federation gave our voices a district-level stage... Through capacity-building training and the confidence it gave me, I can now stand before district authorities and speak on behalf of thousands of women."

— Rajeswary Sridharan, President, Yugasakthy Women Federation

Measurable Results: Recognizing District-Wide Impact

Rajeswary’s leadership turned grassroots commitment into an impactful, district-recognized governance force

Federation Reach (3,400+ Members): Built and sustained an accountable federation connecting 153 affiliated women's groups across Mullaitivu.

Recipients of the Ariyathai Award: Honored by the District Secretariat, Mullaitivu, with the prestigious Ariyathai Award as one of the best women leaders in the district.

District Executive Leadership: Serves as President of the Yugasakthy Women Federation, Executive Member of the Mullaitivu District CSO Federation, Secretary of the Oddaruthakulam Women Rural Development Society.

Institutional Recognition: Established the Yugasakthy Women Federation as a trusted civil society partner capable of managing complex, donor-funded projects in direct coordination with government authorities.

Looking Ahead: Sustainable District Advocacy

Rajeswary Sridharan’s journey illustrates how investing in a single, committed woman leader creates a self-sustaining network of community advocates. By integrating SGBV prevention, micro-credit governance, and political readiness, the BRIDGE Programme continues to amplify women's voices across Northern Sri Lanka.

Across Sri Lanka’s post-conflict Northern Province, decades of civil war, displacement, and relocation have left thousands of families without basic civil documentation. For marginalized communities in the Karaichi Divisional Secretariat—particularly upcountry Tamil families resettled in Kilinochchi—the lack of a birth certificate or National Identity Card (NIC) creates a cascading chain of structural exclusion. Without legal identification, children cannot sit for national examinations, families are barred from state welfare schemes like Aswesuma, and adults are blocked from opening bank accounts, securing land ownership, or entering formal employment.

Thushanthini Sivarajah, 30, Secretary of the Kilinochchi District CSO Federation, spearheaded a multi-tiered advocacy campaign through Chrysalis and the BRIDGE Programme to eliminate civil documentation barriers and restore basic citizenship entitlements.

The Challenge: Civil Documentation Gaps and Structural Barriers

In Karaichi, the lack of civil registration documents affected hundreds of families across nine Grama Niladhari (GS) divisions:

The Upcountry Theduthal Barrier: Families originally from upcountry regions faced complex administrative hurdles, such as the theduthal (register search/declaration) process. Obtaining confirmation from distant origin offices required travel costs and bureaucratic navigation far beyond the reach of impoverished households.

Exclusion from Welfare and Education: School students faced barriers in continuing their education, while vulnerable families were structurally excluded from state financial support under the Aswesuma welfare scheme.

Information and Access Isolation: Many affected residents were unaware of how to resolve missing records or navigate government registry systems.

Strategic Interventions: Evidence-Based Proposal, Mobile Services, and Multiplier Training

Working in partnership with FISD and supported by Chrysalis, Thushanthini turned a hidden administrative crisis into a coordinated district-level rights campaign:

Evidence-Based Advocacy Proposal: Drafted and submitted a formal proposal on "Basic Documentation" to district authorities, drawing on data gathered during local town hall sessions.

Three-Way State Partnership: Organized a landmark mobile birth certificate service on March 27 by partnering directly with the District Secretariat, the Karaichi Divisional Secretariat, and the Registrar General’s Department.

On-the-Ground Facilitation Across 9 GS Divisions: Mobilized community awareness and assisted 130 families across target villages—including Uruthirapuram, Selvanagar, Bharathipuram, and Konavil—to complete application searches.

ICT Skills Multiplication: Functioned as a knowledge multiplier when five ICT-trained federation members shared digital documentation and advocacy skills with 64 women political leaders, activists, and human rights defenders.

"Without basic documents, people cannot prove who they are. They cannot access banking, welfare, education, or justice. When we brought these issues to the town hall and worked with the government to organise the mobile service, we saw what advocacy can do: sixty families received certificates that day, and their lives changed. That is what fair access to services means in practice."

— Thushanthini Sivarajah, Secretary, Kilinochchi District CSO Federation

Measurable Results: Unlocking State Entitlements for 130 Families

Thushanthini’s campaign delivered immediate, life-changing administrative outcomes:

Direct Document Delivery: Issued 60 birth certificates and NICs during the initial mobile service round (42 issued directly and 18 confirmed), with an additional 70 pending applications slated for distribution at the next town hall.

Educational Access Restored: Secured birth certificates for 20 students, enabling them to register for national exams and remain in formal education.

Aswesuma and Financial Access: Enabled newly documented families to qualify for state Aswesuma financial welfare payments, open bank accounts, and apply for micro-loans.

High-Impact Town Hall Resolution: Contributed to a 97% overall decision-achievement rate across eight district town hall sessions, including a 100% resolution rate on local council issues during the March 2026 town hall session.

Looking Ahead: Grounding Governance in Citizen Entitlements

Thushanthini’s campaign proves that civil documentation is the foundational gateway to all civic and economic rights. By linking evidence-based town hall dialogues directly with state mobile service delivery, the BRIDGE Programme continues to build inclusive, accountable governance across Northern Sri Lanka.