Dharsika Sivapragasam

Dharsika Sivapragasam is the Human Rights and Legal Associate at the Human Development Organization (HDO) in Sri Lanka, where she works on issues affecting marginalized communities. She co-authored the research report "Between Tokenism and Invisibility: Minority Women's Political Representation in Sri Lanka" (with Farah Mihlar and Akeela Shadhique), which was launched in Colombo on 28 January 2026. The research was conducted in partnership with Oxford Brookes University's Centre for Development and Emergency Practice, Minority Rights Group, Eastern Social Development Foundation, and the Sri Lanka Development Journalist Forum.

Her research examines the intersecting barriers that minority women face in political participation, where ethnic, religious, and caste identities intersect with gender. The report documents how women are often included in political structures merely to meet quota requirements rather than for genuine decision-making participation, and how patriarchal and ethnoreligious norms limit women's mobility and public engagement.

Sivapragasam has represented HDO in international advocacy efforts, including participation in a weeklong delegation to Brussels in June 2025 convened by the International Dalit Solidarity Network. The delegation, comprising six representatives from marginalized caste groups across South Asia, met with officials from the EU External Action Service, European Parliament, and European Commission to advocate for strengthened EU engagement on addressing caste discrimination and ensuring monitoring mechanisms to protect the rights of marginalized caste communities.