The Department of Education and Science has today announced a programme designed to promote gender equality and equal opportunities in all sectors of Irish society.
The Gender Equality Programme - a one-day event at the Burlington Hotel in Dublin today - will feature a number of guest speakers, including Mr Michael Kimmel, a social scientist hired by the Government to examine claims of "gender symmetry" in cases of domestic violence.
Mr Kimmel, who has examined over 100 empirical studies for the Equality Committee of the Department of Education and Science, said "it is not true" to suggest women and men are victimised in roughly equal numbers and said policy-oriented efforts for women were not misplaced.
Also speaking at the event, Minister of State at the Department Mr Willie O’Dea said he was "delighted" to launch the programme, which is one of a number of "specific actions" provided for under the National Development Plan(NDP) designed to introduce equal opportunities across the sectors.
Mr O’Dea also said the Equality Unit, set up under the Equal Opportunities Promotion and Monitoring measure of the NDP in June this year, advises on, reviews and promotes the development of policy to enable the Government "move from a perceived gender neutral to a gender visible position in areas of education".
He said the Department had a long record of specific measures to redress disadvantages experienced by boys or girls in the education system.
Mr O’Dea said that in the 2001-2006 period, the Department intended to develop a gender mainstreaming approach to take into account lifelong learning and both sexes.