Amshi Deserved Better: Those Brave Enough to Speak Deserve Healing, Not Revictimization
Photo from the Tamil Guardian
By Alia Whitney-Johnson, Founder and CEO of Emerge Lanka Foundation
When a teenager takes her own life after reporting abuse—a child with dreams, hopes, and a future stolen—we aren't just witnessing a tragedy. We're witnessing the culmination of collective failure.
Amshi's story burns like a fire that should never have been lit. While we cannot bring her back, the thousands rising up to demand justice in her name signal that perhaps, finally, we're ready to confront the uncomfortable truths about how we fail our children.
For nearly 20 years of working with teenage survivors of sexual violence in Sri Lanka, I have witnessed a disturbing reality: too often silence is rewarded, disclosure is punished, and children are abandoned by the very systems meant to protect them.
Over these two decades, I've seen the immense courage it takes for a young survivor to say, "This happened to me." I've also seen the devastating consequences when that courage is met not with compassion, but with suspicion, delay, and shame.
Photo from a home for teenagers testifying in court against abusers. Photo by Chatrini Weeratunga for the Picture Press Photo Essay, “A Childhood Robbed.”
In Sri Lanka, a child who reports abuse doesn't receive justice—instead, they face a relentless onslaught of secondary traumas from every direction. Their initial disclosure—often involving profound betrayals by someone they should have been able to trust—is just the beginning. What follows is what survivors describe as equally, sometimes even more devastating: authorities who meet their courage with skepticism, investigations that drag for years through a backlogged legal system, communities that turn away rather than witness discomfort, and the suffocating weight of shame forced upon young shoulders that should never—ever—have to bear it.
Let us be absolutely clear: when we fail to respond with compassion, when we do not create pathways for healing and justice, when we ignore survivor voices—this, too, is a form of violence. And when we remain silent, we become part of the harm—even without meaning to.
Amshi's story is tragically familiar: allegations shelved rather than urgently pursued, young voices dismissed rather than amplified, and systems that leave the vulnerable exposed while wheels of justice barely turn. No child should be shamed in a classroom for speaking their truth. No survivor should sit next to their abuser at school. How we respond in those critical first moments after a child says "this happened to me" literally determines whether healing begins or hope dies.
In my years working with young survivors, I've seen them removed from school "for their own protection," while alleged abusers remain unchallenged. I've seen their lives consumed by legal limbo—formative years spent waiting, not healing. In a country where court cases can drag on for over a decade, these children are left in prolonged states of uncertainty, re-traumatized by the very systems meant to safeguard them.
Real justice cannot wait. It must begin immediately, with bold, coordinated action that listens to and centres children and survivors:
Training on working with survivors of trauma
Mandatory trauma-informed training and protocols for all authorities—police, probation officers, prosecutors —with certification requirements and regular accountability reviews that recognize disclosure is not just a legal matter, but the first step toward healing.
Immediate response teams with child specialists who deploy within 24 hours of a disclosure, using proven child-centered practices that minimize harm during investigations.
Expedited evidence-gathering procedures that protect survivors while building strong cases, including dedicated forensic units trained in child abuse cases and strict timelines for investigation completion.
Expedited legal pathways and specialized child courts that prioritize cases involving minors, with streamlined processes designed to resolve within months, not years, utilizing victim-friendly layouts, closed sessions, and trauma-informed judges.
Government-initiated action protocols where NCPA, Department of Probation and Childcare Services, police, and education authorities collaborate immediately upon disclosure—no family should have to navigate bureaucracy or advocate for investigation. Automatic case reviews and progress reports ensure accountability without requiring parents to chase updates.
Pictured above are participants from Emerge’s Centre for Reintegration
6. Centralized case management where children tell their story once to a trained specialist, with that testimony shared across agencies using technology and coordinated interviews.
7. Enforceable school safety standards with independent oversight, mandatory reporting systems, immediate suspension protocols for accused staff, and transparent disciplinary procedures with community monitoring.
8. Survivor-centered support hubs that provide coordinated medical care, counseling, legal advocacy, and educational continuity in safe spaces.
9. Long-term, holistic support that walks with survivors through every stage of their healing.
10. Public accountability mechanisms including quarterly reports on case resolution times, transparent disciplinary outcomes for institutions that fail to protect children, and survivor feedback systems that inform continuous improvement.
Survivors work together and support each other at Emerge
These reforms must not be conceived in conference rooms detached from reality. Real change must be rooted in the lived experiences of survivors and informed by those on the front lines—people who have sat with a teenager piecing their life back together after trauma, who have stood beside families as they confronted indifference, delay, and despair. Too often, policies are crafted by those who’ve never witnessed the cost of our failures up close. Survivors and frontline workers don’t just understand the system—they know where it breaks, because they've been broken by it. Their insight isn’t optional—it’s essential. We must move away from top-down policymaking and instead co-create solutions within communities, alongside those most affected. Healing, safety, and justice cannot be engineered from afar. They must be built hand-in-hand with those whose lives are on the line.
But systems alone cannot protect and heal our children. Each of us has a role to play in making our communities safe—for listening, believing, and protecting. It begins when families create safe spaces for truth. When teachers and communities become protectors. When bystanders speak up instead of looking away. And when we, as a society, stop asking "Are you sure?" and start saying "I believe you."
Amshi deserved to be heard. She deserved protection. She deserved healing. She deserved to live.
Outrage is not enough. We owe Amshi—and every child like her—not just grief, but action. We must turn our collective heartbreak into unwavering resolve. We must build a society where no child fears being disbelieved, dismissed, or destroyed for telling the truth. And, we must centre children and survivors in the way we respond and build systems to support their care and protection.
If you're ready to be part of the change, add your voice and contact details here: www.emergelanka.org/justiceforamshi. Together, we can ensure that no child is ever punished or silenced for the courage it takes to report abuse.
Amshi's voice was silenced. Ours must never be. We can do better. We must.
Alia Whitney-Johnson is the Founder and CEO of Emerge Lanka Foundation (www.emergelanka.org), which has empowered over 1,700 teenage survivors of trauma and sexual abuse in Sri Lanka through innovative healing programs, economic empowerment, and support to rebuild their lives in the community. A Rhodes Scholar and MIT graduate, Alia has dedicated nearly 20 years to supporting survivors and transforming how systems respond to childhood trauma. She also co-founded Freedom Forward, a U.S.-based organization pioneering approaches to prevent commercial sexual exploitation of youth.
