evidence: It was a moment worthy of celebration for women in Sri Lanka when Bimshani Jasin Arachchi was appointed as Sri Lanka’s first female deputy inspector general of police (DIG) in October, 2020. This victory was short-lived, however. Six months later Jasin Arachchi was removed from her duties by a three-bench panel of the Supreme Court of Justice. [...] More often than not, there is a definite lack of accountability sprinkled with denial when perusing the subject of women’s access to and opportunities for leadership. For instance, when questioned on Sri Lanka’s limited female representation in leadership, political commentators are quick to respond that the country has witnessed the leadership of a woman prime minister (also the world’s first woman PM), and a woman president, without really addressing the core issues that prohibit women from shattering that glass ceiling. What commentators conveniently forget to mention is that both former Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike and former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga came from the same family with deep-seated political roots. Both women also garnered the sympathy vote to some extent, having run for office after their spouses were assassinated while leading active political lives. Therefore, their success cannot be applied to the average woman aspiring to enter Sri Lanka’s political arena, as witnessed in the abysmally low percentage of women legislators in Sri Lanka’s present parliament (only 5.3 percent women legislators, or 12 out of a total 225 legislators).