Sunila Abeysekera (September 4 1952 – September 9, 2013) was a Sri Lankan human rights campaigner. She worked on women's rights in Sri Lanka and in the South Asia region for decades as an activist and scholar. Quitting a career as a singer, Abeysekera briefly joined the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and then founded the Women and Media Collective in 1984. As head of the INFORM Human Rights Documentation Centre, she monitored human rights violations by all parties in the civil war. She received the United Nations Human Rights Award in 1999 and the Didi Nirmala Deshpande South Asian Peace and Justice Award in 2013. Early life Sunila was born on 4 September 1952, to Turin and Charles Abeysekera, a public servant and a leader of civil society in Sri Lanka. She first became involved in politics in the 1970s as a member of the Civil Rights Movement (CRM), which campaigned for political prisoners who had been involved in the 1971 Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) youth insurrection. She briefly joined the JVP in 1978, editing their newspaper Red Power but left in 1980 after a disagreement. Sunila first began her political work with women through The Socialist Women’s Front, the women’s wing of the JVP. Career Work in Film and Theater Sunila developed a love for theater, film, song and art early in life. Her talent at singing was nurtured during her school days at Bishop’s College, and two of her songs, Udumbara Hinehenawa, from Dharmasena Pathiraja’s Bambaru Avith, and Hemin Sere Piya Vida from Dharmasiri Bandaranayaka’s Hansa Vilak, both sung with T. M. Jayaratne to music composed by Premasiri Khemadasa, are local favorites. As a performer, Sunila’s career included roles in renown Sri Lankan plays and films, including Delovak Athara (Between Two Worlds) (1966) and Golu Hadawatha (The Silent Heart) (1968) by Lester James Peiris; Diriya Mawa (an adaptation of Mother Courage and her Children) (1972) and Makara (Dragon) (1973) by Henry Jayasena; Angara Ganga Gala Basi (Angara River Flows) (1980) and Modara Mola (1980) by Ranjith Dharmakeerthi; Paradige (On the Run) (1980) by Dharmasena Pathiraja; Amanthaya (The Dark End) (1997) by Nihal Fernando. 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. Women’s representation in media was a primary concern and framework of analysis for her. She penned the longest running feminist