16th February 2004
Ireland was recently reprimanded by the Council of Europe regarding the composition of our delegation to that body. To continue to have voting rights apparently all member states had been told that at least one member of the delegation had to be a woman. Indeed, we were told our voting rights would be removed until this was so.
Out of the 45 members only Malta and Ireland did not have delegations in line with the new rule.
After the Good Friday Agreement was approved, the Irish and British Governments co-funded an institution in Queens University, the Centre for the Advancement of Women in Politics in the School of Politics and International Studies. I wish some of my male colleagues down here would read the booklets and papers produced by the Centre because we have a lot to learn here.
A small enough number of women are elected to the Oireachtas as it is but it is a pity that we should have to put up with indirect discrimination when we get here. It was reported in the press that the Fianna Fail and Fine Gael members of the four man group volunteered. I presume having taken soundings from amongst the female members of those parties, that women really didn't want to go on trips abroad. There was even a hint that it might be dangerous and we'd be fearful.
Well, with Senator Mary White just back from visiting the three Sinn Fein prisoners in Columbia and me from Ethiopia where I had gone to Afar villages where all the men had 2 foot long knives and Kalashnikovs, this I felt was a bit of a slur on us shrinking violets.
The Council of Europe was not looking for women to complete some statistical exercise or have pink and red suits among the grey in the photographs. Nor, I'm sure, were they influenced by feminism. I'd say the august body just wanted to get women's opinions first hand. Men can, of course, bring forward issues of importance to women but there is no harm at all in us expressing our ideas and explaining our priorities.
The electorate is of both genders. They probably vote mainly for party political reasons but in view of the fact that we have multi-seat constituencies maybe some vote on the gender ground. Surely therefore, those elected should take this into account and try to fulfil their mandate properly.
Women politicians do bring forward issues which are of importance to women electors because everyone has to listen to the electorate or they won't be of much use. Parliamentary debate should stimulate public debate, but here it is usually the other way around. The concerns of the public rapidly become those of people in Leinster House if it can be seen they are popular, but unpopular causes which may be important to women only can be ignored.
Sometimes, too, it is essential to have women on a delegation. For example, in many cultures women are slow to discuss sexual or reproductive health with visiting males but can be quite surprisingly open with other women. The Poverty Reduction Strategy of the World Bank contains little or nothing on family planning - but when one asks, woman to woman, if it is important to women in developing countries I have found them to say yes, yes and yes again. At every meeting I could, I brought this up in Ethiopia and the few women politicians that are in parliament there were glad of outside support, I believe.
Cross sectional representation is desirable because we learn from each other. People from lower socio-economic backgrounds are far less likely to be in Leinster House than those of us who are better off. I'm fascinated to hear people giving out about how high the minimum wage is - seven Euro an hour - but I'd love to see them living on it. I couldn't.
Women are not afraid of responsibility and are well used to travel. In the Afar village I was safer in many ways than a man. The information on these nomadic people said the men were very warlike and when they killed an enemy they cut off his penis and scrotum. They hang these trophies on their large hunting knives - at least they couldn't do that to me!
Senator Mary Henry, MD
