The Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) gave a presentation yesterday to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women in advance of the state’s examination tomorrow.
The Committee were addressed by IHRC Chief Executive, Dr. Alpha Connelly and Commissioner Dr. Katherine Zappone.
In her presentation, Dr. Connelly elaborated on the changes the Commission would like to see made to the Irish Constitution in the interests of gender equality and restated the IHRC’s recommendation "that there should be a constitutional amendment to prohibit both direct and indirect discrimination on a number of grounds, including gender". She also pointed out that Article 41.2 of the Constitution dealing with women in the home, had previously been criticised by the CEDAW Committee for its gendered ascription of social roles to women as home-makers and rearers of children, while being silent as to the role of men in this regard. While acknowledging that the provision can be viewed as a validation of women in the home, Dr. Connelly continued "the problem is not the recognition it affords to women in the domestic sphere but the fact that women are defined in this way, without any reference to the responsibility of men in relation to the family or to the significant social contribution made by women through activities outside the home".
In her presentation, Dr. Katherine Zappone who is convenor of the IHRC’s Committee on Gender and Equality, said "amending the Constitution could provide a legal basis to eliminate discrimination against women in the areas of economic and social rights. Furthermore it would add impetus to implementing anti-discrimination policies and laws for the 23% of Ireland’s female population who are at risk of poverty, as well as the women in Ireland who experience multiple forms of discrimination."
Dr. Zappone noted that the adoption of temporary special measure by states in order to fulfill their obligations are particularly pertinent for those women experiencing the compounded negative impact of multiple discrimination such as Traveller women and women with disabilities.
A copy of the presentations by Dr. Alpha Connelly and Dr. Katherine Zappone are available by clicking on the following link:
http://www.ihrc.ie/documents/article.asp?NID=146&NCID=8&T=N&Print=
A copy of the IHRC’s Submission to the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women is available from the following link:
http://www.ihrc.ie/_fileupload/publications/CEDAWFinal.pdf
For further information, please contact:
Mary Ruddy
Senior Human Rights Awareness Officer,
Irish Human Rights Commission.
Jervis House,
Jervis Street,
Dublin 1.
Tel. 01 8589 601
Mobile: 087 2400695
E-mail: info@ihrc.ie
Website : http://www.ihrc.ie