FPA Sri Lanka advances a rights-based advocacy and policy agenda to strengthen Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice (SRHRJ), promote gender equality, and remove legal and structural barriers faced by marginalized communities. Our work combines evidence, community voices, and strategic engagement with policymakers, institutions, and civil society to support inclusive and just legal and policy reform.

Key Advocacy Areas

Decriminalization of Same-Sex Sexual Relations

FPA works with LGBTQIA+ organizations, activists, and researchers to advocate for the decriminalization of same-sex sexual relations. Our advocacy efforts focus on amending Section 365 and repealing Section 365A of the Penal Code to protect the fundamental rights of LGBTQIA+ communities in Sri Lanka. Public awareness, informed dialogue, and engagement with decision-makers are central to creating a more inclusive legal and policy environment.

Decriminalization of Termination of Pregnancy in Specific Circumstances

FPA advocates for legal reform to allow termination of pregnancy in cases of rape, incest, and lethal fetal abnormalities. Our advocacy promotes safe access, informed public discourse, and support for individuals, particularly marginalized women and girls to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health. FPA will to continue to engage with the council and medical colleges to advocate for these reforms.

Reforming Sri Lanka’s Rape Law

FPA works with women’s rights organizations, human rights activists, and researchers to advocate for expanding the definition of rape under Section 363 to be gender-neutral, recognizing all forms of sexual penetration, beyond penile penetration of the vagina and including men, boys, and transgender persons.

We also advocate for the criminalization of marital rape by addressing exemptions that deny protection to married women and girls. Our work highlights critical gaps in the current legal framework and supports reforms that uphold consent, bodily autonomy, and equality before the law.

Reform of the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA)

Recognizing that gaps in the MMDA, such as the absence of a minimum age of marriage, permissibility of polygamy, and the lack of a mandatory bride’s signature, undermine the SRHR of Muslim women and girls, FPA supports advocacy for reform of the Act. We work collaboratively with women’s rights organizations, grassroots activists, and researchers to promote bodily autonomy, equality, and informed decision-making.

Repealing the Vagrants Ordinance

The Vagrants Ordinance, is an archaic law that continues to be used against trans persons and sex workers. FPA advocates for its repeal in partnership with human rights activists and researchers, promoting a legal and policy framework that upholds dignity, equality, and access to rights for all, including marginalized communities.

Advocacy and Systems Strengthening for a Community-Led HIV Response – SKPA 2

Through the SKPA-2 programmer continuation, FPA Sri Lanka works to strengthen community-led HIV responses by addressing legal, policy, and system-level barriers to HIV prevention, testing, treatment, and care. The programme centres sustainability, accountability, and meaningful community participation.

Key focus areas include:

• Strengthening legal recognition and public contracting of CBOs: Supporting community-based organizations, particularly those led by key populations, to achieve legal registration, governance, and compliance with national systems, while advocating for inclusive public procurement mechanisms.

• Advancing community-led monitoring (CLM): Supporting CLM as a social accountability mechanism that captures lived experiences of HIV services and informs improvements in availability, accessibility, acceptability, and quality of care.

• Promoting sustainable, rights-based HIV service delivery: Advocating for professional recognition and capacity strengthening of outreach workers, innovative service delivery models such as HIV self-testing, and peer-led navigation within national systems.

• Removing legal and human rights barriers: Advocating for the removal of punitive laws affecting access to HIV services, including continued engagement through the Voices Against 365A platform. FPA works with activists, legal experts, and policymakers to advance the decriminalization of same-sex sexual relations under Sections 365 and 365A of the Penal Code. Advocacy efforts include legal literacy, parliamentary engagement, political mapping, and public awareness initiatives aimed at reducing stigma, countering misinformation, and creating an enabling legal and policy environment for equitable access to health services.

• Building national ownership and sustainability: Supporting the transition from donor-funded initiatives to nationally embedded, community-led systems within Sri Lanka’s HIV response.

Sex Work Policy Consortium

FPA works in partnership with sex worker-led organizations, human rights groups, legal experts, and researchers to advance a rights-based approach to sex work in Sri Lanka. Our advocacy addresses legal, structural, and social barriers that undermine the dignity, safety, health, and wellbeing of sex workers.

Key areas include challenging the misuse of laws such as the Vagrants Ordinance, strengthening legal literacy and access to justice for sex workers, and engaging law enforcement, media, and policymakers to promote non-discriminatory, rights-respecting approaches. Through research, policy briefs, and national advocacy, we aim to contribute to an environment free from violence, coercion, and exclusion.

SOGIESC Project: Pathways to Recognition

Advancing dignity, access, and rights for gender and sexually diverse communities

Implemented under the IPPF Centre of Excellence on SOGIESC, this project addresses the administrative and structural barriers faced by gender and sexually diverse persons in accessing identity documentation and essential health services.

FPA’s advocacy focuses on reducing institutional barriers, promoting transparent and rights-based pathways within state systems, and supporting more inclusive practices. A key output is a publicly accessible trilingual toolkit that provides clear guidance on identity-related documentation processes and health service pathways, empowering individuals and supporting service providers.

RFSU ‘Leave No One Behind’ Project (2026)

The RFSU-funded Leave No One Behind project (January–December 2026) strengthens inclusive, rights-based Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) policy and practice in Sri Lanka. The project focuses on reducing stigma related to medical termination of pregnancy, strengthening youth empowerment through Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE), and improving access to legal and psychosocial services for survivors of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), particularly for marginalized and underserved communities including women, youth, persons with hearing impairments, and SGBV survivors across multiple districts.

Outcome 1: Reducing stigma and strengthening rights-based knowledge The project works to improve knowledge and attitudes on SRHR and medical termination of pregnancy among government officers, civil society actors, and women’s organizations. Evidence generation through research and studies supports policy dialogue and advocacy.

Outcome 2: Enhancing youth engagement and leadership on CSE Youth engagement is strengthened through clubs, camps, awareness programmes, accessible educational materials, and school-based SRHR programmes. Policy-level stakeholder meetings and digital platforms are also supported to enhance youth-friendly access to information.

Outcome 3: Improving access to legal and psychosocial services for SGBV survivors The project strengthens community-level service delivery by building the capacity of Service Delivery Point staff and providing legal and psychosocial support for SGBV survivors, ensuring functional survivor-centred referral pathways.