Women and a Bill of Rights for NI by Rachel Powell

Introduction

Many groups in the women’s sector in Northern Ireland have long campaigned for a Bill of Rights since the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement created a provision for a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. Although a lot of this campaigning was before my time, I have been really interested in how recent developments such as the three-year collapse of the NI Assembly; the subsequent New Decade, New Approach agreement; Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic has reemphasised the need for protecting hard-fought women’s rights through a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland.

Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted further the importance of human rights protections, particularly with regards to accessing healthcare and our economic and social rights protections. As highlighted by the Women’s Policy Group (WPG), what 2020 has shown us is that we require robust rights protections in line with key areas of our social and economic infrastructures that people in Northern Ireland rely upon on a daily basis[1]. For instance, every day we rely on access to healthcare, care providers (both paid and unpaid), adequate standards of living and housing protection. Further, a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland would also help avoid a divergence of rights on either side of the Irish border as we face the realities of Brexit and what this means for Northern Ireland.

Right now we are at a crucial point in campaigning to protect existing rights, mitigate against the exacerbation of inequalities that existed before the global pandemic and enhancing the human rights of women in Northern Ireland that currently fall short of protections elsewhere.

Rights at Risk

For too long, Northern Ireland has been far behind in implementing, protecting, and enhancing the rights of women. You don’t need to look far to see how vast levels of gender inequality are in Northern Ireland, official statistics from the NI Assembly show this clear as day, yet harmful gender-neutral policy making continues and we fall short of the same protections afforded to women elsewhere[2]. For instance, despite the disproportionate impacts on women, we are the only part of the UK without a specific government funded childcare provision or a Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy.

Many of the hard-fought women’s rights that currently exist have been severely tested due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and many more are under threat due to Brexit[3]. The Women’s Policy Group NI has worked extensively to highlight the disproportionate impact of the pandemic, economically, socially and in terms of health, in our COVID-19 Feminist Recovery Plan[4]. As we continue to work in these challenging times, we continue our fight to not only protect, but also enhance the rights of women in Northern Ireland.

Although the responsibility to introduce a Bill of Rights is with the UK Government, the NI Executive also has powers to introduce and enhance rights, and this should be done as a matter of urgency. This is of particular importance as many human rights issues remain unaddressed and Northern Ireland continues to fall behind other UK regions regarding human rights standards.

Current Bill of Rights Campaigning

In the past few years in my role as Women’s Sector Lobbyist, I have been able to work with an incredible range of women across the voluntary and community sector in NI in campaigning to advance gender equality.

The Women’s Policy Group NI (WPG) has been consistently calling for the implementation of a Bill of Rights for NI in recent years. This has included in the WPG Northern Ireland Women’s Manifesto for the 2019 General Election, in the WPG COVID-19 Feminist Recovery Plan and in follow-up Bill of Rights Webinar Events and briefings. With the establishment of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Bill of Rights in the NI Assembly, a public survey was announced on 5th November 2020 to ask views on the creation of a Bill of Rights for NI.

Frustratingly, this public survey was initially open for just six weeks in the midst of a pandemic, making it extremely difficult for the women’s sector to engage with women on their views on a Bill of Rights. We raised our concerns with the committee on the inaccessibility of this survey, alongside the need to make public surveys accessible and to meaningfully engage with women and managed to secure a short extension to this public survey.

Since then, we find ourselves in another lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and are continuing our work on securing a Bill of Rights for NI. This has included:

·       Hosting a Women’s Regional Consortium workshop with the Human Rights Consortium to gather views of women,

·       Publishing key briefings highlighting the need for a Bill of Rights in NI based on content from our Feminist Recovery Plan,

·       Contributing to the Make Our Future Fair Campaign calling for a Bill of Rights,

·       Submitting requests to the Ad Hoc Committee on a Bill of rights to present evidence from women, and of course, writing our own organisational responses and encouraging others to respond to the Ad Hoc Committee Bill of Rights Survey.

In the development of any proposed Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland, it is crucial that this is not merely aspirational, but armed with tools for enforcement, so that people can both access their rights and hold government to account if these rights are not met. Women have been disproportionately impacted by a decade of harsh austerity and the COVID-19 pandemic, and now more than ever, we need a robust and enhanced human rights framework which is embedded in all government institutions and decision-making.

All aspects of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement need to be protected and fully implemented; including a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland where specific focus can be given to the rights of women.

[1] See Women’s Policy Group (2020), ‘COVID-19 Feminist Recovery Plan’, https://wrda.net/feminist-recovery-plan/; See also Women’s Policy Group (2021), ‘Key Briefing: Bill of Rights’, https://wrda.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Bill-of-Rights-Key-Briefing-WPG-Jan-2021.pdf

[2] See WRDA (2020), ‘Gender Inequality in Northern Ireland: Where Are We in 2020?’, https://wrda.net/2020/02/07/gender-inequality-in-northern-ireland-where-are-we-in-2020/

[3] See WRDA (2019), ‘Brexit and the Impact on Women in Northern Ireland’, https://wrda.net/2019/10/18/brexit-and-the-impact-on-women-in-northern-ireland/ 

[4] See Women’s Policy Group NI (2020), ‘COVID-19 Feminist Recovery Plan’, https://wrda.net/feminist-recovery-plan/

Rachel Powell is a women’s sector lobbyist with Women’s Resource and Development Agency (WRDA).