Work in Film and Theater Sunila developed a love for theater, film, song and art early in life. Sunila was also a cultural critic, and published reviews of local and international films, including in cinema journals such as Cinesith, 14 - Prakashanayata Avakashayak, Chitrapata. She penned the longest running feminist film review column on Sinhala cinema; a column titled ‘
Ape Esin’ through our eyes) under the pen name
Vishwapriya, in the Sinhala language magazine
Eya published by Women and Media Collective. She went back into exile between 2009 and 2010, supported by the Institute for Social Studies as part of their "Scholar At Risk". In the 1990s, she participated in the executive committee of the Movement for Free and Fair Elections and became president of the Movement for Interracial Justice and Equality in Sri Lanka. From 1992 onwards, she worked with the Global Campaign for Women's Human Rights and attended the
World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna (1993) and
Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing (1995). Her activism continued in the 2000s, when she formed an important role in setting up the international coalition of
women human rights defenders. In 2002, Abeysekera joined the feminist International Initiative on Justice for Muslim women who were victims during the 2002 Gujarat riots. She played an important role in ensuring that women's needs were addressed in the aftermath of the
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. Abeysekera also served as chair of the Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights. Alongside her activism, Abeysekera was a noted feminist scholar. She focused on the issue of mainstreaming
women's human rights concerns within the
international human rights system. The political participation of women and ending violence against women were two key areas of her work. She also worked with cultural workers and cultural groups to develop and create new ways of expressing themselves through the media and the arts, including work on critical cultural theory. The major themes of Sunila Abeysekera's work include issues of equality and non-discrimination in understanding women's human rights and in promoting equal treatment for women; problems of re-conceptualising the nation-state and principles of good governance from a
feminist perspective; problems of representation of women in art and culture; and feminist film criticism. Abeysekera was a lesbian and single mother of six children, who she adopted from Tamil friends forced to flee the country. She died from cancer at the age of 61 on September 9, 2013. Her funeral was attended by thousands of people. == Selected works ==