Women's Views on News |
| NI: marriage equality as an election issue Posted: 28 Apr 2016 11:27 AM PDT
Marriage equality is a Northern Ireland Assembly election issue, campaigners said as they launched a new campaign, Love Equality, which aims to get equal marriage rights for same-sex couples in the region. Northern Ireland is now the only part of the UK or Ireland where equal marriage is barred by law. Campaigners now plan to secure a change in the law over the course of the Northern Ireland Assembly's next five-year term. The campaign is being jointly organised by Northern Ireland's main LGBT organisations, the trade union and student union movements and Amnesty International. They say the campaign will not stop until equal marriage rights are part of Northern Ireland law. "Ever since the Yes vote in the Republic of Ireland, marriage equality has become a big political issue for many voters – straight and gay – in Northern Ireland," said John O'Doherty, one of the leaders of Love Equality. "Last summer 20,000 people marched through Belfast demanding marriage equality, one of the biggest political demonstrations Northern Ireland has seen in years. "Those people haven't gone away. "On May 5th they will be looking for candidates who promise to deliver equality for everyone. Marriage equality is now an election issue." The campaign's website has an 'email your candidate' online tool, to make it easy for supporters to lobby their MLA hopefuls in every constituency in advance of the Assembly election on 5 May. So please do. There have so far been five votes in the Northern Ireland Assembly calling for the introduction of marriage equality in Northern Ireland. On the most recent vote, the marriage equality side won a majority for the first time, however, the DUP lodged a petition of concern to veto the majority vote of the Assembly and block the introduction of marriage equality. And the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), currently Northern Ireland's largest party, has pledged to continue to block the introduction of marriage equality in the region. In November, they used a Petition of Concern to veto the marriage equality motion which had the backing of a majority of MLAs in the Assembly. And holding a referendum like they did in the Republic of Ireland won't help. Although numerous polls show that the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland support marriage equality, campaigners say they do not believe that the fundamental rights of minority groups should be put up to a popular vote. In the Republic of Ireland, marriage equality could only become legal by amending the Republic's constitution, which required a referendum. No such requirement exists in Northern Ireland or the rest of the UK. And anyway referenda in the UK are not automatically binding and so would still require the Northern Ireland Assembly to vote on legislation giving effect to the referendum result. Campaigners believe it is likely that this vote would be blocked just as previous votes on marriage equality have been blocked by the use of the petition of concern. Ultimately, campaigners believe that the best solution would be for the Northern Ireland Assembly to pass legislation allowing for marriage equality, rather than having to take the matter through the courts. 'We believe it is the duty of our legislators to vote in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland and remove marriage discrimination. "If the Northern Ireland Assembly proves itself to be unable or unwilling to end this discrimination we believe that it is correct for the courts to intervene and protect the human rights of LGB&T people in Northern Ireland." There are currently two challenges to the bans on same-sex marriage. However, seeking human rights changes through the courts is a lengthy process and the Northern Ireland Assembly could instead choose to act now, pass legislation and end the on-going discrimination against LGB&T people without being compelled to do so by the courts. Speaking ahead of the launch were couples who want the law to give them the choice to get married. Sally Bridge, 48, and Catherine Couvert, 53, live in Belfast. Bridge said: "We’ve been together for 15 years and raised two sons, two cats and a dog together! We’re very proud of our family. "We want young LGBT people to grow up in a world where they don’t feel like second class citizens and we want families like ours to have equal rights." Shane Sweeney hopes to get married as soon as the law in Northern Ireland allows it. Sweeney said: "Civil partnerships to me are second tier token gestures that make distinctions on the quality of your love. "You're good, but not quite as good. We will tolerate you but not hold you in parity of esteem. "That’s not good enough." Ahead of the upcoming Northern Ireland Assembly election on 5 May 2016, Love Equality asks that you take action and email your election candidates asking them to support civil marriage equality in Northern Ireland. The more people who take action, the louder the voice demanding equal marriage. To take action click here.  |
| Pregnancy, risk and discrimination at work Posted: 28 Apr 2016 11:21 AM PDT
Pregnant women and new mothers are more likely to face negative treatment at work now than they were a decade ago, according to research published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). In response to this report, ‘Pregnancy and maternity-related discrimination and disadvantage’, the UK parliament’s Women and Equalities Committee is conducting an inquiry to look at the action being taken to address this growing problem. This inquiry is focusing in particular on whether the government proposals are enough, or whether tougher action is required to ensure that pregnant women and mothers are treated fairly. The Women and Equalities Committee is currently hearing evidence from two panels, focusing on the government‘s plan for action on pregnancy and maternity discrimination. The report found that while 84 per cent of employers believed that supporting women during pregnancy and maternity was in the interests of their organisation, 77 per cent of mothers said they had negative and possible discriminatory experiences. In short, the BIS/EHRC research found that 4 per cent of the mothers they questioned left their job because of a failure to tackle health and safety risks, which could equate to up to 21,000 women a year. These women were more likely to work in hotels, restaurants and social work. Health and safety assessments are particularly important in higher risk roles as changes to duties are more likely to be needed. Pregnant firefighters, for example, have to be removed from attending operational incidents because of the risk of toxin inhalation and other health and safety issues. But this does not have to mean removal from their normal place of work and the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has raised concerns about women being moved to desk jobs of little value, disrupting their usual shift pattern. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has agreed to take forward the EHRC’s recommendations on health and safety to review current guidance and to work through existing partnership channels, particularly in sectors highlighted in the report. The Committee will look at whether this is enough to deal with health and safety concerns. The panel will also consider the protection of women’s legal rights to paid time off for antenatal care, maternity leave, maternity pay or allowance, and protection against unfair treatment, discrimination or dismissal. The second panel focuses on employers’ views and experiences, with a particular focus on best practice and proposals to tackle the issues raised in the report. Discussion focus on a range of issues, including the benefits which witnesses’ businesses have seen as a result of providing good support for women during pregnancy, maternity leave and on return to work; and different perspectives on the difficulties and barriers to supporting employees during pregnancy and as parents. This session examines the EHRC’s recommendations to the government and the approach which it has set out in its response. How practical and hard hitting are the recommendations? Is the government doing enough? Should the government be providing more support to businesses or taking a harder line on illegal practices? The Committee’s chair, Maria Miller, said: “There is a worrying mismatch between good employer intentions and poor experiences for women. “Our inquiry is looking at what needs to be done to close that gap.” For more information on health and safety issues for women at work, click here for the relevant chapter of the TUC‘s guide to health and safety ‘Hazards at Work‘, and here to read their report on pregnancy at work, called The Pregnancy Test.  |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Women's Views on News. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |