Debate contribution: International Women’s Day 2025

Debate contribution by Ms Sinéad McLaughlin on 4 March 2025.

MLA

Ms Sinéad McLaughlin

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

4 March 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

International Women’s Day 2025

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4833597

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank the members of the Women's Caucus for bringing the motion to the Floor today in recognition of International Women's Day 2025. I also thank all those who are members of or are part of the all-party group on women, peace and security, which I have had the pleasure of chairing. Those members will know that the APG recently met senior officials from the Foreign Office to discuss the need to engage with women stakeholders on gender inequality and the role of paramilitarism. While the meeting was constructive, there was a feeling that change had not been quick enough, and I think that that is the feeling across the board on gender equality. We have come a huge way in the past few decades, but much work remains to be done. In that sense, I am glad that this year's theme for International Women's Day is "Accelerate action". Data from the World Economic Forum suggests that, if we are to continue with our current rate of progress, it will take until 2158, which is roughly five generations from now, to reach full gender parity. I do not think that the world will exist then as it does now. That is one of the big reasons why we need to "Accelerate action". In fact, we learned this week that the UK has recently been knocked back one place to 18th in the women in work index due to our sluggish pace of change on women's earnings relative to men's. That is a disgrace in 2025. In Northern Ireland, we see at first hand how gender equality has continued to worsen due to the lack of government action. That is particularly true when it comes to, for example, our childcare crisis. Every day, parents, but particularly women, are being forced out of the workplace due to childcare fees that far outstrip their earnings. That is just one of the many ways in which women can still be disadvantaged in Northern Ireland in 2025. Those concerns have been raised by the Equality Commission, which has made a number of recommendations focused on tackling gender stereotypes in childcare. It recommended the introduction of coordinated, comprehensive and coherent measures to tackle gender-based stereotypes and attitudes from an early age, right across all areas in life. It also recommended the need for acceptance and recognition of a gender emphasis on women and men taking childcare responsibilities. Of course, those recommendations are also more widely applicable. If we are to accelerate action towards gender equality, we must accept the role that men have in addressing the stereotypes that have divided us for too long. That should include the comprehensive reform of relationships and sexuality education in our schools, as well as leadership from the top: men in privileged positions, including colleagues in the Chamber, should seek to use their influence to echo messages of equality and lead by example among their peers. Doing so should help to trigger the transformative change towards gender equality. The truth is that, without the role of women, Northern Ireland would not be the place that it is now. During our Troubles, women were at the forefront of calling for, and working towards, a lasting peace agreement. That was personified by our own Bríd Rodgers, who recently celebrated her 90th birthday. During the celebration, I took some time to reflect on her work. A strong campaigner for peace, Bríd played a crucial role in peace talks. In November 1999, Bríd became one of only two women to serve as a Minister in the first power-sharing Executive. Bríd, like many of her female counterparts during that period, refused to be held back by stereotypical views on gender and a woman's role in society. It is time that we followed her example and did the same. No one else is going to address the issues that we face, which is why we need to lead the charge and must accelerate action towards addressing gender equality.

662 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:06 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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