| From Unity, 23 December 2006 |
Fighting violenceby Lynda WalkerOver the past year we have witnessed some final movement on the political scene, with Paisley at last communicating with Sinn Féin. Of course we all know that the DUP works alongside Sinn Féin in the local councils, but we have yet to see a fully fledged Assembly at Stormont. Last week Gerry Adams met the PSNI; this is another milestone on the road to peace and reconciliation. However, we must see these happenings as a slow but sure move towards a new political atmosphere. If we take a long-term view of the situation we can see that there have been dramatic changes here over the past thirty years. Such a time scale may seem a long one to the younger generation, but to those of us who have been around for a while it seems like only yesterday. Thirty years is a good measurement of time to view political and social changes. The Sex Discrimination Order to Northern Ireland was introduced in 1976. Like much progressive legislation, this was not introduced automatically at the same time as the British legislation in 1975. When asked why in the House of Commons, the answer was that women here did not want the rights that the Sex Discrimination Act brought. It took the Northern Ireland Women’s Rights Movement, Craigavon Women’s Group and others to protest and to lobby MPs, the trade union movement and the public at large to get an order in Council. The legislation outlawed the marriage bar, dismissal on pregnancy, refusal of jobs, promotion and training to women, and denial of key services like banking, insurance, education, and leisure facilities. Much has been achieved in the past thirty years, but we still need to reduce the gender pay gap, break down gender segregation in education and career choices, bring an end to pregnancy discrimination and sexual harassment, promote affordable child care and flexible working for men and women, and increase the representation of women in public life. We also need to challenge sex stereotyping from an early age, because this partly leads to violence against women, an issue that radically needs to be addressed, whether it is rape as seen a couple of weeks ago when a young girl was attacked on the Shankill, murder as witnessed in Ipswich, or the unseen “domestic violence” that happens on a daily basis. Violence against women is a product of our society and must be targeted through a variety of measures within the education system, trade unions, the police force, and many other areas. A report recently highlighted the fact that the majority of rape cases reported to the police do not get convictions, and that juries tend not to convict if a rape victim has been drinking. There also needs to be a national help line for rape victims as well as an adequately funded Rape Crisis Centre, an organisation that has recently had its funds stopped at a paltry £60,000. This move was an obvious hit at the overtly feminist group that has helped many victims of rape down the years. After thirty years we can say that this issue is one that still needs to be addressed. |
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