The National Women's Council of Ireland (NWCI) yesterday urged women to vote for female candidates in the general election, as it launched its manifesto to mark International Women's Day today.
Dr Joanna McMinn, director of the NWCI, said that at the current rate of change, it would take 370 years for women to gain equal representation in politics.
Female deputies make up 13 per cent of the current Dáil, compared with an average of 36.4 per cent female representation in parliaments in the Nordic countries.
Dr McMinn pointed out that the percentage of women in parliament in eastern Europe had "seriously declined" in recent years, after quotas had been abolished as the countries moved towards market economies and free parliamentary elections.
The NWCI's election manifesto includes demands such as a joint labour committee for domestic workers, more funding for services that help victims of domestic violence, one-year paid parental leave and subsidised childcare.
Dr McMinn said women were still discriminated against in every sector of society. "For example, out of 30,000 apprentices, only 131 are female," she said. "Inequalities continue to be exacerbated in retirement because women have lower pensions as a result of unemployment, work time and parental leave."
The NWCI is to take legal action against the State on behalf of women who have been denied a full contributory pension in their own right, after they were forced to give up work because of the pre-1973 Civil Service marriage bar. It estimates that 110,000 women are only getting 80 per cent of the old-age pension because of this marriage bar.
Meanwhile, Sally Anne Kinahan, Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) assistant general secretary, said that while more women were in the workplace now, "hundreds of thousands of jobs" were poorly paid with no prospect of advancement.
She said men were paid, on average, 14 per cent more than women, but this rose to 20 per cent in the education sector. "You will find men are paid more for lifting boxes than women are paid for lifting people."
Also marking International Women's Day, the World Vision Ireland aid agency released a survey showing 98 per cent of girls in one area of Somalia had undergone genital mutilation. The agency is running a pilot project in Somalia, working with the local community to end the practice.
A Galway city councillor has called for a permanent memorial to be put up in Galway city to remember the women of the Magdalen laundry. Cllr Billy Cameron said this would be a good way to mark International Women's Day. Galway's Magdalen laundry was close to the tourist office, near Eyre Square.
"The Magdalen laundries have been commemorated in song, story, documentary and film," said Cllr Cameron. "But something concrete should be erected in the city to commemorate the women who were hard done by in a cruel society."
