THE LABOUR Party has called for legislation that would address the gender imbalance in Irish politics and increase the number of women elected to government.
Women account for only 13 per cent of the membership of Dáil Éireann, while across the world only 18 per cent of parliamentarians are women.
Labour believes offering Electoral Act funding to political parties which reach a gender quota could help address the issue and get women more actively involved.
Speaking ahead of International Women's Day, which is today, the chair of Labour Women, Sinead Ní Chúlacháin, said having more women involved in government results in balanced politics.
"Women's under-representation is something we are used to, and too often we ignore the fact that it matters. . . Women bring skills, experience, particular perspectives, and good ideas to politics," she said.
At present, almost one third of Labour Party TDs are women (six out of 21), compared to less than 10 per cent of TDs for both Fine Gael (five out of 51) and Fianna Fáil (seven out of 78) .
Meanwhile, Amnesty International has used International Women's Day to call on governments and schools to take action to end violence against girls.
Amnesty's Irish section has said it is committed to campaigning for the introduction of human rights education in all schools as a way of assisting in the creation of safer environments.
Widney Brown of Amnesty International said: "Virtually every government claims to abhor violence against women and girls.
"Schools are a place where governments have direct responsibility and can start backing up their words with concrete actions."
