Commission’s U.N. report highlights State failures to advance gender equality in Ireland
Today the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (‘the Commission’) met with the U.N Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (‘the Committee’) in Geneva.
We welcomed this opportunity to provide our parallel report to inform the Committee’s review of Ireland’s implementation of the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (‘CEDAW’), ahead of the State’s examination before the Committee this Friday June 20th, on its progress in implementing the Convention.
In particular, we communicated our concerns about the State’s persistent failure towards women and girls in a number of key areas, and the de-prioritisation of gender equality in Ireland in contrast to Ireland’s advocacy on the international stage.
Our concerns include:
DSGBV and Refuge Spaces
- While DSGBV (domestic, sexual and gender-based violence) policy has seen some positive reform in recent years, we are concerned that many women leaving violence still do not have a safe place to go. The lack of adequate and appropriate supports and refuge spaces for victims and survivors of DSGBV and human trafficking is a major concern, especially as DSGBV is the main cause of homelessness for women and children in Ireland. The State must significantly scale up the provision of culturally appropriate, universally designed refuge accommodation units and provide guidance to local authorities on supporting victims and survivors seeking emergency accommodation and social housing. The current proposed increase to 280 will not even meet half the number (675) needed to comply with Council of Europe guidelines.
Women in Politics
- When it comes to women in politics, progress is also worryingly slow. Following recent elections Ireland is currently 99th in the world for women’s representation in national parliaments and 96th in the world for women cabinet ministers. 32.5% of constituencies have no women as representatives. Only one woman from an ethnic-minority background was elected to Parliament in the recent election. Supports to facilitate greater representation of women at the national level must be first rooted in the Local Elections, as gender imbalances among Local Councillors significantly affect the candidate selection processes for Dáil elections.
Economic Equality
- In terms of economic equality, Irish society is still based on the “male breadwinner” model which contributes to the lack of female political leadership, as well as to the gender pay gap of 11.2 % and the gender pension gap of 36%. It is crucial that the State urgently addresses pension inequality in Ireland, including through the introduction of a Universal State Pension system. The Commission calls on the State to address the structural causes and impacts of poverty, including gender proofing a new national plan to eradicate poverty.
Healthcare
- When it comes to women’s healthcare, despite the legal advancements that have been made to make abortion more accessible in Ireland, there remains significant barriers to equitable and accessible abortion services, including women still travelling abroad for healthcare in cases of fatal foetal anomaly. The Commission calls on the State to prioritise the full implementation of the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 to ensure that all women have equitable and accessible abortion services in Ireland.
Women in Detention
- Women in detention continue to suffer unnecessarily as overcrowding continues to worsen. In particular, we are deeply concerned about the anticipated increased use of immigration detention due to Ireland implementing the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum.
Chief Commissioner Liam Herrick said:
“Advancing gender equality must be a priority for this and future Irish governments. Gender equality, as well as being a basic human right, is crucial for an integrated, harmonious and thriving society, based on equality and the rule of law.
“This engagement with the UN expert committee is a critical opportunity for Ireland to commit to making greater progress, especially when it comes to ending male violence against women, increasing numbers of women in politics, and promoting economic equality. We expect the UN Committee to make concrete recommendations to the State on how it can ensure that women are girls are afforded the protections that the State is obliged to provide under our international commitments.”
ENDS/
Our recommendations include:
On upcoming EU Directives on Standards for Equality Bodies:
- That the State, as part of its full and ambitious transposition of the EU Directives on Standards for Equality Bodies, engages in multi-annual budgetary planning and allocation at a level that ensures the effective discharge of all of IHREC’s statutory functions, and that new mandates are accompanied by adequate and transparently costed funding.
On civil society:
- That the State provides core, multi-annual, ring-fenced and autonomous funding to women’s and girls’ civil society organisations, and ensures an enabling environment for advocacy, participation and leadership.
On national policies:
- That the State ensures that the new national strategy for women and girls is underpinned by resourced implementation and accountability structures, including independent oversight of delivery.
On data collection:
- That the State prioritises the publication, promotion and implementation of its National Equality Data Strategy and investment in the national equality data infrastructure. Government Departments and public bodies should be adequately resourced to deliver on its strategic approach and actions must be put in place to improve the collection, use and dissemination of disaggregated equality data.
On hate-speech targeted towards women and girls:
- That the State prioritises reform of the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989 to align with international human rights standards and ensure it addresses the rise of the rise of misogynistic and other discriminatory hate-speech in the Irish online sphere.
On access to justice:
- For many victims and survivors of abuse within Mother and Baby Institutions, Magdalene Laundries, schools, residential institutions and of the practice of symphysiotomy the abuse is not historical but rather is an ongoing violation which impacts their enjoyment of rights. The State overhauls its approach to investigations and reparations of so-called ‘historical’ abuse to ensure independent, survivor-centred, timely investigations and effective remedies for victims and survivors, including through schemes based on the right to truth, justice, reparation, non-recurrence and memory processes.
On climate action:
- That the State gender proofs climate action and adaption measures, and ensures women and girls are included in the decision-making responses on climate action.
Notes to editor:
We note that Ireland has been without a National Strategy for Women and Girls since 2021 (NSWG). This starkly highlights the low priority the State has recently given to gender equality and the implementation of CEDAW. The new NSWG must be given adequate funding, supports and resources and that it and its action plan be revised to implement the recommendations of the Committee from this Review.
The upcoming NSWG must also have a priority focus on evidence, collaborative governance, intersectionality, implementation, and accountability and it needs to be aligned with other equality strategies, including those concerning disabled people, Travellers and Roma, migrants, and LGBTQIA+ people.
Full and summary versions of the report are available at:
For further information, please contact:
Sarah Clarkin, IHREC Communications Manager,
01 852 9641 / 087 468 7760