Agreement Reached in the Multi-Party Negotiations - Transitional ...

and individuals, responses received during the first phase of the consultation, and the
views of nine independent Working Groups chaired, in the main, by people outside the
Commission.
7.3.1 How to Deal with Women’s Rights?
As each Working Group was charged with the Commission’s equality duty (section 75 of
the Northern Ireland Act), and because it was believed initially that women’s rights would
be mainstreamed in the document, a specific working group for women was not
established. However, while the groups highlighted some issues concerning gender, the
importance of these tended to be overshadowed by the recommendations specific to the
remit of each group and seldom found expression in the text of the working groups’
proposed clauses for the Bill of Rights. Following representations from women, a
pamphlet on Women’s Rights was published 160 that identified particular areas of concern.
Four themes consistently emerged: (1) persistent gender inequality; (2) the inadequate
protection of reproductive rights; (3) the prevalence of violence against women and girls;
and (4) under-representation in the political process. The Commission believed ‘that these
rights should be entrenched and legally enforceable’ and recommended their inclusion in a
separate chapter on the rights of women in their draft document. 161
Submissions on foot of the draft document were divided on the question of how women’s
rights should be treated. Almost 17% of submissions 162 make the case for mainstreaming
women’s rights. Some of these submissions argue that putting references to women’s
rights throughout the document could avoid creating a hierarchy of rights. On the other
hand, 14% of submissions 163 disagree with the commission’s approach and instead support
a separate chapter for women’s rights. These responses argue that women make a unique
contribution to Northern Ireland and suffer from a particular type of disadvantage.
Furthermore, they make the point that gender discrimination and discrimination on other
grounds often overlap. For example, women can suffer from discrimination not only on
the ground of gender but also on a combination of grounds such as race, sexual
orientation or political belief. 9% of the submissions 164 argue for an approach that
mainstreams women’s rights as well as keeping a separate chapter.
Subsequently, the section on women’s rights was dropped 165 and the rights incorporated
into related chapters with a commentary to explain the approach and the origin of each
provision. 166
159 Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, Making a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland, Consultation
Document, September 2001
160 Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, The Bill of Rights and Women, January 2001
161 Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, Making a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland, Consultation
Document, September 2001
162 Such as those by Amnesty International, the Equality Commission, Northern Health and Social Services
Board, Southern Education and Library Board, the Catholic Bishops and the Probation Board
163 Such as those by Support Training Education Employment Research, Women’s Aid Belfast, Conference
of Religious of Ireland (CORI), Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance and the SDLP
164 Such as those by Women’s Support Network, Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition and the Women’s Aid
Federation (Regional)
165 Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, Progressing a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland, An
Update, April 2004
166 Ibid. Equality between men and women: see Chapter 4 (1), Equality and non-discrimination;
Right to reproductive health: see Chapter 15 (2) (b), Social, economic and environmental rights;
Freedom from gender based violence: see Chapter 8c (1), The rights of victims;
Right to fair, full and effective participation: see Chapter 2b (2), Democratic rights.
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