CrisisJam

I moved to Ireland in early 2008, at a time where the benefits of the Celtic Tiger started to fade and when the perspective of a global and national economic crisis started to seem more and more apparent. I was moving from France, where I was living at the time, and I remember being greatly surprised by my first impressions as a migrant and a new to resident in Ireland. By Pablo Rojas Coppari, a Paraguayan national working with the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland. 

Society seemed to be quite vibrant, energetic and quite jovial.

When Constance Markievicz became the first woman elected to parliament it was hailed as a great victory for Irish women. While the women themselves were jubilant the irony was not lost on them as the feminist paper the Irish Citizen remarked, "Under the new dispensation the majority sex in Ireland has secured one representative. This is the measure of our boasted sex equality."

Fast forward 90 years or so and one would expect to find a vastly different scenario in Dáil Eireann.

Uber-conservative Televangelist and all-round good guy Pat Robertson (yes, the one who predicted Doomsday would occur in 1982...) has described feminism as ‘a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.’ Nice.

As the resurgence of feminism is overshadowed by the depths of the financial crisis and global recession, Angela Nagle draws attention to the attempts to roll back the advances and improvements made by women over generations and sounds the alarm on the forced return of women to the home.

One of the places where gender inequality is most visible in Irish society is, ironically, our national parliament. Following the general election 21 constituencies out of 43 have no female TDs at all, and our female representation in public life puts Ireland at number 79 in world rankings. Here, Mary Murphy makes the case for the introduction of gender quotas.

An issue often overlooked by the mainstream media, Justin Frewen sheds light on the horrific abuse millions of women are subjected to both in times of war and, perhaps more frighteningly, in their own homes during peacetime. In Ireland it is estimated a woman will suffer abuse 35 times before reporting it, but Irish legislation provides scant protection.

The prostitution industry in Ireland is worth an estimated €180 million a year. This money is made through the sexual exploitation of women and girls, the majority of whom are migrants. Denise Charlton, CEO of the Immigrant Council of Ireland, assesses the Swedish legislation on prostitution and how it is yielding impressive results in combating human trafficking.

The effects of austerity economics are devastating – moreover, they are designed to target those who can bear it least. Like its predecessor, the new Irish government persists in using neoliberal policies to solve a problem created by neoliberal policies. Adam Larragy highlights how the impact of this approach has not been gender neutral.

The popular uprisings in North Africa have captivated the world as men, women, and children take to the streets to oppose corrupt and oppressive regimes. Following the people’s victory Amel Yacef points out that women’s rights may already be taking a backseat in Egypt, and she finds a glimmer of hope in the male-dominated Algerian media.

On the 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day organised domestic workers across the world launched an international campaign to get legally binding international legislation to protect domestic workers’ rights. Aoife Smith of the Domestic Workers’ Action Group gives an overview of the campaign to protect some of the world’s most invisible workers.