{"id":60565,"date":"2025-04-29T15:40:12","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T15:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/60565\/"},"modified":"2025-04-29T15:40:12","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T15:40:12","slug":"womens-issues-being-sidelined-in-border-poll-debate-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/60565\/","title":{"rendered":"Women\u2019s issues being \u2018sidelined\u2019 in border poll debate \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

IRELAND\u2019S future must not be reduced to a border poll that ignores oppression and violence against women, a new report has said.<\/a> <\/p>\n

This was among the key demands published by the National Women\u2019s Council (NWC), an island-wide organisation championing women\u2019s voices across society. <\/p>\n

Launched at Belfast City Hall on Tuesday, the report looked \u201cbeyond binary political debates\u201d about whether Northern Ireland should remain part of the UK or join with the Republic.<\/p>\n

Instead, it was argued that key issues for women on either side of the border – such as healthcare, childcare, economic justice and gender-based violence – were \u201csidelined\u201d in constitutional debates.<\/p>\n

\"‘There<\/a>\"Kneecap<\/a>\"LaunchingLaunching a new report from the NWC at Belfast City Hall, pictured l-r; Alexa Moore, The Rainbow Project; Louise Bayliss, Society of Saint Vincent de Paul; Eileen Weir, Community Development Practitioner; Amanda Ferguson, Journalist; Lord Mayor Councillor Micky Murray; and Orla O\u2019Connor, National Women\u2019s Council. <\/p>\n

Citing the influence of partition as creating \u201ctwo deeply conservative states,\u201d the report said that gender-based violence became entrenched across the island \u201cwith patriarchal power structures reinforced by paramilitary groups, religious institutions or state actors keeping survivors silent and blocking their path to justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite progress in recent years, both jurisdictions were still found wanting in providing adequate protection and resources for survivors of domestic abuse, sexual violence and coercive control.<\/p>\n

Economic structures and \u201cpoor state policies\u201d were also said to \u201ctrap women in abusive relationships\u201d through housing insecurity, financial dependence, and inadequate social protections.<\/p>\n

Sarah Mason, CEO of Women\u2019s Aid Northern Ireland, said contributing to the discussions as part of the Women\u2019s Assembly had been \u201ca powerful experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the north, we face some of the highest levels of femicide in Europe. We need to work together to change this and make the island a safe place for all women and girls.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nuala Toman from Disability Action Northern Ireland also spoke of the challenges facing disabled women to live and work independently. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs Ireland looks to the future, the voices of disabled women must be at the forefront of progress. That means inclusive healthcare, economic justice, an adequate standard of living, freedom from violence, political representation, accessible housing, and digital innovation that leaves no one behind.<\/p>\n

\u201cDisabled women should not be an afterthought in policy; together we are leaders in shaping a more just, safe, and inclusive Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"IRELAND\u2019S future must not be reduced to a border poll that ignores oppression and violence against women, a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60566,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[7220,678,1144,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-60565","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-gender-equality","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-northern-ireland","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114422010608100381","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}