Gender is a protected ground in Irish equality law.
Discrimination on the ‘gender ground’ happens if someone treats you less favourably because you are a different gender to someone else.
Gender includes male, female, transgender or nonbinary.
Pregnant women or women on maternity leave are also protected under the gender ground.
Under EU law, a transgender person who experiences discrimination arising from their gender reassignment, or transition, is also protected under the gender ground.
What has gender got to do with human rights and equality?
Gender equality is a key principle of equality and human rights law. Nobody should be discriminated on the basis of their gender.
Gender equality applies in all areas of Irish society including family life, care, health, work, and politics. It is important that Irish laws and policies cover gender equality
A few of the key laws about gender in Ireland, the European Union, and internationally are:
The Equal Status Acts and the Employment Equality Acts protect against discrimination on the basis of gender in Ireland.
The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) calls for the end of discrimination against women.
The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence requires Ireland to address and prevent violence against women.
The Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 requires organisations to report on their hourly gender pay gap across a range of metrics.
If they don’t publish this report, we have been given the power to apply to the Circuit Court or High Court for an enforcement order.
What is IHREC doing on gender
We have focused on gender in many areas of our work including:
We ran a public awareness campaign in 2023 on care work and gender inequality.
We made a submission in 2020 to the Citizen’s Assembly on Gender Equality on the actions needed to achieve gender equality.
We have called for the ‘gender ground’ in Irish equality law to cover gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics.
We have a role under the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021. This legislation requires employers (with over 150 employees) to report on the gender pay in their organisation.
Care about Equality
The #CareAboutEquality national campaign aims to inform public attitudes on the value of care, the gendered nature of caring, both unpaid and low-paid, and how this impacts on women lives in Ireland. Watch as women from different backgrounds share personal perspectives on how gender inequality and care work impacts on their daily lives, their career potential and their futures.
