Feminism in Sri Lanka

As you may know, violent warfare between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is all but destroying the small country. As to be expected, this violence has disproportionately affected women. As they do not participate in the fighting as frequently as their male relatives, they are often left defenseless in areas that are still susceptible to violence. It's hard to report on exactly what's happening due to the extreme censorship, but it is known that violence is tearing apart the population of approximately 20 million.

Among the many medical crises facing the approximately 70,000 people trapped in the main conflict zone (non-government controlled areas), thousands of women are pregnant and cannot access pre or postnatal care or medical assistance during labor. I must admit even I don't frequently think of pregnant women when I think of conflict zones, but this highly vulnerable population is left with much higher risk of death during childbirth when they have zero access to childcare. Although a huge percentage of the female world population never sees a doctor before, during, or after childbirth, this is still an unnecessary risk, and specifically female risk in conflict zones.