Josiah was born in Kuala Lumpur and grew up in Brickfields.[1][2] Her parents were originally from JaffnainSri Lanka but her father came to Malaysia to work for the colonial government. Eventually, Josiah's father returned home to Jaffna, married Josiah's mother and moved back to Malaysia.[1]
For more than 15 years, Josiah was Executive Director of the Women's Aid Organisation (WAO), a Malaysian organisation which helps abused women and children.[3] Through her contributions, Josiah has been described as helping to "put domestic violence on the national agenda".[3] When Josiah started working with WAO, she saw it as a way to eliminate discrimination in her own life saying, "I never saw it as charity work. It's activism."[4] She was introduced to WAO through Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, a lawyer and human rights advocate who was her friend in Convent Bukit Nanas.[4]
In 2017, Josiah was still active in many types of civil and political rights causes including volunteering with Bersih, the Human Rights Society of Malaysia,[3] and PROHAM (Society for the Promotion of Human Rights), for whom she is the secretary-general.[6]
In 2016, Josiah was also planning on embarking on a creative project with Five Arts Centre founder Marion D'Cruz, a dancer and choreographer, and Mac Chan, a lighting designer.[4]
