Annexure 1: Case studies on sex work Sri Lanka
Submitted to the CEDAW Committee, January 2025
By Sex Workers and Allies South Asia (SWASA) and partners

CR#1 Discrimination and violence against sex workers (Case contributed by SWASA
partners)
Early Life
Melani’s parents separated when she was just 4 years old, and both remarried shortly after. She
lived with her father in Kandy until she was 12, at which point she moved to live with her mother.
When she was 13, her mother remarried, and Melani subsequently lived with her grandmother
while continuing her education up to grade 9. She later returned to her mother’s house and
completed her O-levels.