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Ireland's political and cultural magazine
4 8 October 2016
OPINION
M
y election as Chairperson of the
National Women’s Council of Ire
-
land (NWCI) and that of a renewed
Executive Board, comes at an excit-
ing time, as the vibrant feminist
movement in Ireland is experiencing a huge
resurgence, particularly among younger women.
As the representative national women’s organi-
sation in Ireland, the NWCI is leading the work
for change in women’s equality.
Over recent years we have seen a number of
successes not least the introduction of gender
quotas, and the provision of two weeks paid
paternity leave, which are significant and
welcome.
We need to increase the pace of change for
women’s equality in Ireland though, and this will
be a key challenge throughout the term of the
new Board, until 2018. An important part of our
accountability to the NWCI membership is to
assess and report on the ongoing impact of the
organisation’s policy and advocacy work.
The NWCI’s primary objective for the foresee
-
able future will be repealing the Eighth
Amendment and ensuring that, through legisla-
tion, women have access to the full range of
essential reproductive health services. We have
received a strong mandate to prioritise this issue
through the members’ consultation to produce
our new Strategic Plan. Through this process it
was clear that the time for incremental change
on abortion is long gone. We know that restric
-
tive laws do not stop abortion, but they do cause
immense hardship to women forced to travel,
and even more so to women who cannot travel.
The NWCI will play a part in supporting women’s
voices to be heard by holding a series of regional
seminars and it is vital that all women take part.
In particular I hope that disabled women will par-
ticipate in these conversations, and as
Chairwoman I will work hard to facilitate and
deliver this.
Another priority for the NWCI over the next
years will be the issue of men’s violence against
women. Research shows that one in five women
in Ireland will experience domestic or sexual
abuse at the hands of a
male partner, yet there is
widespread unwillingness
to accept, less still, address
this crisis in our society, even
as women continue to be mur-
dered by their partners or former
partners. We have well-resourced
road-safety campaigns, which chal
-
lenge all of us who use the roads to play our
part in reducing injury and death. Where is the
equivalent public-awareness strategy to chal-
lenge the level of violence against women?
Minister Frances Fitzgerald told NWCI members
at our recent AGM that she has secured funding
for such a drive. We await its announcement with
huge interest. The Government has signed up to
the Council of Europe’s ‘Istanbul Convention’ on
preventing and combating violence against
women and domestic violence but we need to
resource the full implementation of the Conven-
tion as a matter of urgency. This will involve
increasing supports for frontline services and
the Gardai in order to provide women with safety
and protection and to hold perpetrators to
account. In addition the Irish Observatory on
Violence Against Women, which is chaired by the
NWCI, will be requesting funding to research and
produce media guidelines for reporting on cases
of men’s violence against women.
While healthcare, and ending violence against
women are crucial for women’s equality, so too
is the availability of accessible, affordable, qual-
ity childcare. Affordability of childcare has been
consistently ignored by successive governments
and parents have been left struggling to pay
costs which would be unacceptable most other
EU member states. As the primary responsibility
for childcare in Ireland continues to be placed on
women, the lack of affordable childcare contin-
ues to be a key obstacle to women's full
participation in employment and in public and
civil life. Women are making decisions which
affect their career progression, working hours
and types of employment based on juggling
expensive childcare and this cannot continue.
Ireland needs to set itself on a course to provide
a sustainable childcare infrastructure for chil-
dren, for parents and for those who work in the
sector, many of whom are women. Again, there
are positive noises coming from government on
this issue, but we need to see considerable pro
-
gress in Budget 2017, to come even one step
closer to the Scandinavian system promised by
the last government.
Of course, reproductive health care, violence
and childcare are not the only barriers to wom
-
en’s equality in Ireland, but addressing them
would go a long way toward achieving a truly
feminist future. Full equality will not be achieved
as the afterthought of an economic system; it is
the bedrock of a thriving, inclusive society. It is
within our imagination to achieve gender equal
-
ity across our society. We should all play our part
to make it a reality.
Find out how to become a member of NWCI and
read our new strategic plan on nwci.ie
Not just noises
Women’s Council wants action and
urgency from government on gender
quotas, abortion, violence and
childcare-equality
by Frances Byrne
The time for incremental
change on abortion is long
gone. We need to resource
implementation – through
frontline services and the
Gardai - of the Istanbul
Convention on violence
against women
