Women’s rights advocates reject debt restricting proposals and demand economic justice

Women’s rights groups in Sri Lanka have vehemently opposed the current debt restructuring proposals that unfairly place the responsibility of repayment on the nation’s working class, particularly its women. Addressing a press conference, several women’s organizations have called for immediate and sustainable solutions to the ongoing debt crisis in Sri Lanka, emphasizing the need for solutions that genuinely address the lived experiences, challenges, and requirements of the people.

Prominent lawyer and activist Lakmali Hemachandra expressed concern over the compromise of workers’ social security funds to service the debt of the world’s wealthiest income earners. Hemachandra emphasized that hardworking individuals in Sri Lanka are facing severe violations through domestic debt restructuring, leading to a loss of their financial security. The restructuring process is set to conclude in September, further endangering workers’ savings. Hemachandra urged the international community to acknowledge and condemn the alarming practice of using workers’ savings to repay creditors, highlighting the lack of genuine public support for such measures.

Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky, Former UN Independent Expert on Debt and Human Rights, raised questions about the selective burden placed on domestic creditors and proposed a more equitable distribution of sacrifices. He underscored that international law demands inter-creditor equity in sovereign debt restructuring, urging for fair treatment across all debt holders.

The ‘National Convening on Debt and Women’s Human Rights,’ held in Colombo on August 9-10, 2023, brought together women’s rights groups from Sri Lanka and other Asian countries. These advocates discussed the profound impact of the ongoing crisis on their lives and criticized the inadequacy of government responses. International financial institutions, notably the World Bank and IMF, were censured for imposing unjust austerity measures without accountability, exacerbating economic turmoil in the region.

Sri Lanka faces a severe economic crisis due to an unsustainable debt burden of 103.8 percent of GDP as of March 2023. This crisis compounds the challenges faced by households still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. The government’s hurried implementation of austerity measures to secure an IMF bailout has led to cuts in public spending, significant hikes in utility, food, and energy costs, regressive taxation, and limited social security disbursements. These measures disproportionately affect low to middle-income families and pose a threat to wage and job security, particularly for women. Alarmingly, the government’s decision to utilize the earnings of the Employee Provident Funds to repay debt places an undue burden on the working class and restricts avenues for resistance and legal action.