Common cause

Fiona McCann on some of the organisations still fighting for women and women's issues

National Women's Council of Ireland

Founded: 1973 as the Council for the Status of Women. It later changed its name to the National Women’s Council of Ireland (nwci.ie)

Who are they? The umbrella group for women’s groups and organisations with a feminist outlook in Ireland.

Who's in it? At present 180 affiliated organisations, with new groups joining every month. They range from long-established large organisations such as the Irish Countrywomen's Association to new groups such as Akidwa, the African women's network. Trade unions, women's groups within all the main political parties, disability groups, Traveller’s organisations, business women’s networks, artists, lesbian groups, the Girl Guides, community women's networks, community development projects, student women's groups, and a growing number of individuals. All who subscribe to feminist principles are welcome.

What do they do? Support members in their work and lobby for their interests, provide policy analysis and conduct research into issues affecting women in Ireland today. Bring members’ needs to the attention of Government ministers, politicians and civil servants, hold seminars and conferences and represent the interests of Irish women in the EU and other international forums. Highlight women’s issues in the media and campaign for justice for women in Ireland and globally.

What do they want? Equality for women; more than 16 per cent of seats in the Dáil; to lead trade unions and chair the boards of companies; equal pay instead of 17 per cent less than men. They want men to share responsibility for care work and housework, an end to male domestic and sexual violence against women and children, equality of access to healthcare and the freedom to make choices about reproductive health.

How the NWCI sees the women’s movement today: “I think that this is a really important time for the women’s movement,” says NWCI director Susan McKay.

"I think that it’s time to stop being nostalgic about the days of the contraceptive train. That was not the heyday of feminism, that was a phase of feminism. It’s really more urgent for women to be feminists now, because what was gained by the brave women of the 1970s and 1980s is now under threat."

McKay points out that after the recent economic crisis, the National Women’s Council had its budget slashed, and child benefits were targeted "as if child benefit was the biggest decadent extravagance of the boom years".

So is the women’s movement still relevant?

"Women’s rights have by no means been won, women’s equality has not been won, and you cannot lose sight of that, says McKay.

Women's Aid

Women's Aid (womensaid.ie) was established over 30 years ago as a national voluntary feminist organisation providing support and information to women and children being physically, emotionally, financially and sexually abused in their own homes. They have a national free phone helpline and a one-to-one court accompaniment service, and are working towards the elimination of violence and abuse of women through effecting political, cultural and social change.

THE DUBLIN RAPE CRISIS CENTRE

Founded in 1979 as a national organisation the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (drcc.ie) now offers services that include a 24-hour helpline, counselling and court accompaniment, to victims of rape and sexual assault.

Irish Countrywomen's Association

Founded:

1910, in Bree, Co Wexford (ica.ie)

Who are they?

An association for women consisting of some 700 local guilds in Irish towns, villages and rural areas, offering support and adult education opportunities to local women, and organising community activities and actions as well as arts and crafts workshops.

What do they do?

As well as local activities and adult education opportunities, the ICA has been instrumental in the past in campaigning to bring electricity and running water to rural Ireland. It has also been involved in campaigns on equal pay and to highlight breast cancer and was instrumental in the formation of the Crafts Council of Ireland.

Feminist Open Forum

Founded:

October 2008 in Dublin. feministopenforum@gmail.com

Who’s in it?

The forum is open to anyone who wishes to attend meetings or sign up for electronic updates or take part in online discussions. No fee or formal membership is required. All those interested in feminist politics and activism can have their say at regular monthly meetings.

What do they do?

Debate and discuss current political issues as they affect women, share views and experiences, support each other in strategising and planning actions for change.

What do they want?

To enrich public discourse with a feminist, woman-centred analysis along with challenging the gender-blind policies/attitudes that are widely accepted as neutral and unbiased but which affect us adversely.

Akidwa

Founded:

August 2001 (akidwa.ie)

Who are they?

An authoritative, minority ethnic-led national network of African and migrant women living in Ireland. Their aim is to develop African and migrant women’s capacity for participation and representation in their communities and in decision-making structures through training, consultation, focus groups, the provision of information as well as research.

What do they do?

They run a programme that is focused on female genital mutilation (FGM), domestic violence and sexual violence. They provide guidance and training to migrant women experiencing domestic violence and women with medical concerns about FGM.

What do they want?

An integrated society.

Students

Various student-related groups – such as Trinity's Gender Equality Society, which was behind the Take Back The Night March on International Women's Day, to highlight awareness of sexual violence and rape, and UCD’s Students Against Sexism, an organisation formed to protest UCD Students Union involvement in a Miss UCD beauty pageant in 2008 – continue to raise awareness of feminist issues among Ireland’s student population. USI’s equality officer Linda Kelly has also been instrumental in raising awareness of gender equality issues among students.

Community groups

Many community groups across the country campaign at a local level on issues affecting women, and for gender equality. Longford Women’s Link, for example, aims to support individual women by providing domestic violence support services, counselling, support for migrant women and childcare facilities and also lobbies on gender equality issues on a local and national level. Klear, Kilbarrack’s community-based adult education centre, runs a variety of services, many of which focus on issues that primarily affect local women in the community, including child development classes and confidence building and assertiveness training. These are just two of the numerous other local organisations and women’s groups around the State that provide support for women in local communities and raise awareness of issues around gender inequality.

Online

Through the advent of the internet, many women’s groups, campaigns and individual feminists are using online publishing, crowd-sourcing and mass messaging services as a way of organising around issues, campaigning on feminist platforms, and raising awareness. These include bloggers such as the award-winning Suzy Byrne (mamanpoulet.com) who blogs about current affairs in general, though often with a specifically feminist focus, and Dublin-based American Medbh (dante-andthelobster.blogspot.com), as well as feminist newsgroups and Facebook pages set up on single-issues, such as one established to campaign for the reinstatement of the cervical cancer vaccine in Ireland, which garnered over 19,000 members.

Reproductive Rights

THE IRISH FAMILY PLANNING ASSOCIATION

Founded: 1969 as the Fertility Guidance Company Ltd (ifpa.ie).

Who are they? A charitable organisation that offers sexual and reproductive health information, clinical services, counselling services, education, training and raising awareness about reproductive rights and issues affecting women.

What do they want? Reproductive choice for women.

CHOICE IRELAND

Founded: 2007 by a group of activists originally specifically motivated to investigate rogue pregnancy agencies, from which came the group Choice Ireland (choiceireland.org).

Who are they? A non-hierarchical feminist group consisting of activists from a range of political backgrounds campaigning to regulate crisis pregnancy agencies and for reproductive rights.

What do they do? Campaign for all facets of reproductive rights to be upheld, as well as investigating and calling attention to rogue pregnancy agencies, and promote education to empower women to take charge of their fertility.

What do they want? Free access to accurate information on all crisis pregnancy options, legislation regulating information provided by crisis-pregnancy centres, immediate legislation for the X and C cases, proper sex education, free access to multiple forms of contraception including the morning-after pill, free and legal abortion on demand, practical support for women seeking abortion, increased support for single and low-income parents, increased protection for working mothers and free access to quality childcare are among their goals.

Rag and Lashback

Founded: The Revolutionary Anarcha-feminist Group (Rag) started in 2004/2005. Lashback was founded in late 2007.

Who are they? Rag is an anarcha-feminist group and publishing collective, producing a magazine on a variety of subjects, from feminist/anarchist perspectives (ragdublin.blogspot.com). Lashback is a feminist collective and magazine based in Dublin (myspace.com/ lashbackdublin)

What do they do? Rag meets weekly in Dublin city centre to bring out the magazine. It operates a skill-sharing ethos, while raising consciousness about feminist/anarchist issues. Lashback organises meetings, workshops, fundraisers and the magazine. It provides a space for people who identify as women and feminists to come together and talk in a safe environment.

What do they want? Rag: an anarcha-feminist revolution. Social justice, recognition that inequality exists and a whole rethink of society.

Lashback: to create a space for people to learn from each other; to reach out through the magazine to people who may not identify with the word feminism because of the stigma that has developed around it over the years.