‘A vast echo chamber’: is Northern Ireland politics still failing women?
Kirsty King
While the week of International Women’s Day is a time to celebrate women locally and internationally, it is also a time to demand that changes are made to address gender inequalities which still manifest themselves in society. In Northern Ireland, last week significantly saw the very first Women’s Parliament take place in the Assembly, with women from a range of community organisations discussing how the Covid-19 pandemic has had a “disproportionate economic and social impact on women.” The experiences shared, along with those shared at events and rallies across Northern Ireland in the past number of days, are proof that politics is still failing women here.
Lauren, a Master’s student at Queen’s University Belfast, is one of many young people who holds this sentiment. She tells me, “It can often feel like Stormont is a vast echo chamber. Women have been shouting for decades, with no reply. We need politicians who are prepared to fight for what matters to us, not their political agenda(s).” She continues, “The powerhouse that is Clare Bailey (GPNI) has heard our call and introduced vital legislation, in the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Bill, while Pat Catney (SDLP) has been an incredible advocate for the provision of free period products. There are serious conversations and actions taking place across the political spectrum that are welcomed by most citizens here. Political parties, across the board, need to take this seriously.”
Women’s groups in the north have long been advocating for change. Elaine Crory works for the Women’s Resource and Development Agency (WRDA), mainly focusing on the Raise Your Voice project, tackling sexual harassment and sexual violence across NI. She finds it frustrating “how rarely legislation and policy that centres women and our needs comes directly from central government.” Since New Decade New Approach, “there have been a number of relevant Justice Bills, and various policies from the Department for Communities, that have helped people in financial stress or victims of certain crimes, for example. Often these have helped mainly women. But the root causes are mostly unchecked, and nobody seems to ask why these things disproportionately impact women in the first place.” Elaine points out, “Often the most progressive legislation for women comes through Private Members’ Bills from backbench MLAs. This is great, but sometimes it's like a sticking plaster.”
Helen Crickard is a founding member of Reclaim The Agenda, a collective of women’s sector, grassroots feminist and trade union activists and individuals that campaign around six key themes: poverty, discrimination, domestic and sexual violence, healthcare, childcare and equal representation. She says, “For years we have been calling for both a Childcare Strategy and a Gender Equality Strategy, but with little movement. Covid-19 has highlighted how essential women’s contribution is, yet the initial Covid Recovery Plans never addressed childcare.” Helen suggests that “Politicians create a façade of change but it does not tackle the root causes, leaving women undervalued, under-resourced and unsafe.”
Tara Grace Connolly is a member of the All-Island Women’s Forum at the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI), which represents women’s organisations from across the island to promote women’s rights and equality. Tara Grace points out that “the north’s poor record on women's involvement in post-conflict societal reconstruction is a major area for development, as is addressing the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on women which was outlined in the WRDA’s Feminist Recovery Plan. Both of these issues have been highlighted by the All-Island Women's Forum, and I am currently working with my fellow Forum members to include these issues in our policy recommendations to the Dáil and the Northern Ireland Assembly.”
Currently in the Assembly, only 33 per cent of seats are filled by women. However, this could all change following the upcoming Assembly Elections. Aoife Clements is the founder and chief executive of 50:50 NI, an organisation aiming to address the gender imbalance in NI politics today. Speaking on a recent episode of The Women’s Scoop on Queen’s Radio, Aoife discussed 50:50 NI’s recently launched ‘AE Women 22’ campaign: “We’re going to be sharing statistics on the current candidates and how the candidates are distributed. One of the big issues with internal quotas within parties is that they may have 50 per cent women, but if all those women are second candidates, then none or very few of them are going to get elected.” Aoife continued, “Internal policies and quotas in parties need to be used effectively. There’s no point putting all your female candidates in seats that you know you’re never going to get elected in. NI has a really high percentage of safe seats, and you can’t just put men in safe seats, it shouldn’t be working like that. … Every party structure is different and how they pick their candidates is different, so I think it’s important for people to realise that every party needs to do the work in their own way.”
When heading to the ballot box on May 5, it will be important to consider which candidates are actively supporting women in politics and tackling the many issues facing women in society, and which are merely bringing women’s issues into public conversation for the purpose of political point-scoring, without making any meaningful change. As Queen’s student Lauren aptly says: “Women make up more than half the population here - is Northern Ireland truly a democratic place if half of us are left behind?”
Kirsty King is the host of The Women’s Scoop on Queen’s Radio and an English student at Queen’s University Belfast