Sri Lanka, Oct. 15 -- Over a year since the Women's Empowerment Act became law, the National Commission for Women remains a phantom. Seven commissioners have been appointed, press releases issued, and speeches delivered. Yet it possesses no office, no staff, no budget, and no ability to help a single woman. This is not administrative delay; it is deliberate abandonment disguised as process. While politicians celebrate a paper victory, Sri Lankan women continue to face the violence, discrimination, and systemic injustice the Commission was designed to combat.

The Act promised transformative change, granting the Commission powerful tools: the authority to investigate rights violations, intervene in court, compel evidence, and make binding ...