Devika Salomon

Born in Colombo in 1985, Devi works mainly as graphic designer and illustrator. In 2018, based on her own painful journey, she decided to establish an organisation in Sri Lanka that protects women, children and marginalised groups such as LGBTQAI+ in the area of GBV. The organisation is non-denominational and always acts in the interests of the survivors' self-determination.

The Sambol Foundation now runs three shelters and is building the largest safe village in Asia for survivors of gender-based violence. "We are setting up a larger station in the north of the island. Our main focus is on crisis intervention, trauma therapy, legal support, education for children and women, followed by empowerment and reintegration into the primary labour market," she says. "I am convinced that addressing the psychosocial problems that are the long-term effects of colonisation, patriarchal structures and oppression will create new role models in society in the long term and in a sustainable manner. They will become their own mentors and give a voice to those who have not been heard until now. Decolonisation is becoming a must."