• Claims Caucus not standing up for related injustices, 
• Caucus Chair Sudarshini defends non-intervention in Diana’s recent incident  

Claiming that the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus is not interested in standing up for injustices against women including women MPs, the State Minister of Tourism Diana Gamage, presently suspended from Parliament for one month over a disciplinary incident, said that she had decided to boycott the meetings of the said Caucus.

While speaking to The Daily Morning, she said that the Caucus had done nothing when woman MPs including her were subjected to harassment. "We have a Caucus, but there is nothing much happening in it. They don’t talk about the females in Parliament. They portray that they concentrate on the females outside, but, I don’t think that they do it either. When I was subjected to harassment in Parliament, none of the Caucus members except for MP Kokila Gunawardhana opened their mouths." Claiming that the Caucus is “very disappointing”, she said that it should be interested in resolving the issues faced by women MPs in order to resolve other issues women face. "I think that this is the worst Caucus that we had. They don’t fight for our rights. Why should I fight for all their rights? Even if I do it, I have no back up. Therefore, I have decided not to attend any of its meetings. I find it to be 'absolutely useless'. I have already informed it that I would not attend the Caucus meetings."

When contacted by The Daily Morning, the Caucus' Chairperson MP Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle said that Gamage had anyway not been attending the Caucus meetings for the past few months. "The Caucus was established as a voice for females who have no voice. Being an MP, she has the opportunity to speak about whatever harassment that takes place. However, the recent incident involving her (the incident involving Gamage and MPs K. Sujith Sanjaya Perera and Rohana Bandara) was not an incident which violated the rights of females. She was not harassed because she was a female. It was a fight between three MPs. So, we cannot get involved in all the fights between MPs just because one of them is a female." She further said that the Caucus had carried out a lot of work for the benefit of females. "It was we who gave leadership to draft policies on females that were approved by the Cabinet of Ministers. We are now in the process of giving leadership to empower those policies and to establish the Women’s Commission. We also have a Select Committee to look into incidents of females being subjected to discrimination. We have been raising a voice for females who have no voice in many ways."

The Women MPs’ Caucus was established in 2006 as a common platform to carry forward the agenda on gender issues. The Caucus, which currently has a membership of 12 MPs, has created a network of partnerships with female Provincial Councilors and members and councilors of the Local Government bodies, Ministries, Departments and institutions, United Nations agencies, local and international civil society organisations, and individual professionals.