Women still in the dark despite Sri Lanka’s night work law reforms – East Asia Forum

Report on Female Labour Force Participation in Sri Lanka and Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals

1.0 Introduction

A July 2025 legislative change in Sri Lanka repealed a ban on women working night shifts in the hospitality sector. However, this isolated reform is insufficient to achieve substantive progress towards women’s economic empowerment. Significant legal, structural, and social barriers persist, hindering the nation’s progress on key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities). A comprehensive strategy addressing both demand-side and supply-side constraints is required for meaningful change.

2.0 Legislative Barriers and Non-Compliance with SDG 5 and SDG 8

Sri Lanka’s legal framework contains outdated provisions that institutionalize gender discrimination, directly contravening the principles of SDG 5 and limiting opportunities for decent work as outlined in SDG 8. These laws create demand-side constraints by increasing the cost and administrative burden of employing women.

2.1 Discriminatory Legal Provisions

• Shop and Office Employees Act (1954): Restricts women from employment in designated establishments before 6 a.m. or after 6 p.m., with limited exceptions. A 2024 amendment permitted later hours for specific roles in the IT and BPO sectors.
• Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Act (1956): Imposes prerequisites, including permissions and inspections, for employing women in night work within industrial settings, affecting major sectors like the garment industry.
• Factories Ordinance (1942): Restricts the number of overtime hours a woman can work.

These statutes reflect a protectionist bias that undermines female workers’ agency and limits their income potential, thereby failing to ensure women’s full and effective participation in economic life (SDG Target 5.5) and restricting access to full and productive employment (SDG Target 8.5).

3.0 Socio-Economic Constraints and Supply-Side Challenges

Sri Lanka’s female economic participation rate remains low at approximately 30%. This is largely attributable to supply-side barriers that disincentivize women from entering and remaining in the formal labour force.

3.1 Key Supply-Side Barriers

• Workplace Violence and Harassment: The prevalence of work-related violence and harassment, including during commutes, is a significant deterrent. Failure to ratify the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Convention C190 on Violence and Harassment impedes progress on providing safe and secure working environments for all workers (SDG Target 8.8) and eliminating all forms of violence against women (SDG Target 5.2).
• Exploitative Working Conditions: Reports indicate that women in sectors such as retail and care face exploitative conditions, including excessive working hours (reportedly up to 100 hours per week) and heavy workloads. This undermines the goal of decent work for all (SDG 8).
• Burden of Unpaid Care Work: Women disproportionately shoulder care responsibilities, with 57.2% of the economically inactive female population citing carer obligations. This lack of support directly conflicts with SDG Target 5.4, which calls for the recognition and valuation of unpaid care and domestic work.
• Inadequate Social Infrastructure: A lack of accessible and affordable childcare facilities presents a major obstacle for working mothers, further constraining their ability to participate in the workforce.

4.0 Recommendations for a Comprehensive SDG-Aligned Strategy

To achieve genuine economic empowerment for women and meet its SDG commitments, Sri Lanka must move beyond tokenistic legal amendments and adopt an integrated policy approach. The following actions are recommended:

1. Comprehensive Legal Reform: Undertake a systematic review and repeal of all discriminatory provisions within the national labour code to ensure full alignment with SDG 5 and SDG 10, eliminating legal barriers to women’s employment.
2. Ratification of ILO Convention C190: Ratify and enforce the ILO Convention on Violence and Harassment to create safer workplaces, thereby advancing SDG Target 5.2 and SDG Target 8.8.
3. Investment in the Care Economy: Implement policies to recognize, reduce, and redistribute unpaid care work as per SDG Target 5.4. This includes public investment in accessible, affordable childcare and other social support services.
4. Strengthening Labour Protections: Enhance legal safeguards and enforcement mechanisms to protect all workers, especially women in non-standard employment such as night shifts, from exploitation and ensure decent working conditions (SDG 8).
5. Integrated Policy Framework: Develop a holistic strategy that concurrently addresses the demand-side and supply-side constraints on female labour force participation to foster an enabling environment for women’s economic inclusion.

Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 5: Gender Equality

  The article is fundamentally about gender equality, focusing on the legal, structural, and social barriers that prevent women in Sri Lanka from participating fully and equally in the economy. It discusses discriminatory laws against women, violence and harassment in the workplace, and the disproportionate burden of unpaid care work, all of which are core issues under SDG 5.

• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

  The article directly addresses the principles of decent work and economic growth by examining women’s access to employment, working conditions, and labor rights. It highlights issues such as low female labor force participation, exploitative working conditions (long hours), and the need for safe and secure work environments, which are central to SDG 8.

• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

  This goal is relevant as the article details how specific laws and societal norms create and perpetuate inequality between men and women in the labor market. The “unjustifiably protectionist approach and structural bias against women workers” mentioned in the article directly relates to the need to reduce inequalities of opportunity and outcome as outlined in SDG 10.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• SDG 5: Gender Equality

  • Target 5.1: End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere. The article explicitly identifies discriminatory laws such as the Shop and Office Employees Act 1954, the Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Act 1956, and the Factories Ordinance 1942, which restrict women’s working hours and opportunities, constituting legal discrimination.
  • Target 5.2: Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres. The article highlights that “work-related violence and harassment” is a significant barrier to women’s employment and mentions the ongoing advocacy for Sri Lanka to ratify the ILO’s Convention on Violence and Harassment (C190).
  • Target 5.4: Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work. The article points out that women “shoulder care obligations in their own homes with little to no support” and that 57.2% of the economically inactive population are women with carer obligations, directly addressing the issue of unpaid care work as a barrier to economic participation.
  • Target 5.5: Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership in economic life. The article’s central theme is the “continuously low female economic participation, which sits around 30 per cent,” and the legal and structural barriers that prevent women from fully participating in the formal economy.

• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

  • Target 8.5: By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men. The discussion revolves around removing barriers to increase female employment and tackling the “demand-side constraints on female employment” to move towards full and productive employment for women.
  • Target 8.8: Protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers. The article describes “exploitative working conditions,” citing reports that some women “work close to 100 hours a week.” It also calls for “improved legal safeguards” and addresses the need for safe workplaces free from harassment.

• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

  • Target 10.3: Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices. The article’s call to reform “outdated laws” that “undermine the agency of women workers” and create a “structural bias against women” is a direct appeal to achieve this target by eliminating discriminatory legal frameworks.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Indicators for SDG 5

  • Legal Frameworks: The existence of the specific discriminatory laws mentioned (Shop and Office Employees Act 1954, etc.) serves as an indicator. Progress would be measured by their repeal or amendment to remove discriminatory clauses.
  • Ratification of International Conventions: The article mentions that parliament is still “taking steps” to ratify the ILO Convention on Violence and Harassment (C190). The status of this ratification is a clear indicator of progress towards eliminating workplace violence.
  • Time Spent on Unpaid Care Work: The statistic that “57.2 per cent” of the economically inactive population are women with carer obligations is a key indicator. A reduction in this figure or an increase in the availability of support systems like childcare would measure progress.

• Indicators for SDG 8

  • Female Labour Force Participation Rate: The article explicitly states this rate is “around 30 per cent.” An increase in this percentage would be a primary indicator of progress towards achieving full employment for women.
  • Prevalence of Excessive Working Hours: The report of supermarket workers putting in “close to 100 hours a week” is an indicator of exploitative conditions. Monitoring and reducing the incidence of such extreme overtime would measure progress towards decent work.

• Indicators for SDG 10

  • Number of Discriminatory Laws and Policies: The article lists several laws that restrict women’s employment. A count of such laws and tracking their elimination or reform serves as a direct indicator for progress on ensuring equal opportunity.

4. Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: eastasiaforum.org