Statement: Bacik Welcomes Legislation for Women's Rights

Senator Ivana Bacik
Labour Party leader in the Seanad
30th May, 2011

Senator Ivana Bacik today welcomed the announcement of two pieces of legislation aimed at improving the rights of women; the imminent legislation providing sanctions for political parties which do not reach minimum levels of representation for women; and the Government's bill to ban Female Genital Mutilation, which will be introduced in the Seanad on Thursday 2nd June. Speaking today, Senator Bacik said:

“The 2009 report that I produced on women's participation for the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality and Law Reform clearly shows that positive action measures are necessary in order to increase the levels of women's participation in politics. The report recommended that political parties should be obliged to take gender balance into account in selecting candidates for local, general and European elections. I am delighted that Minister Phil Hogan has announced that the Government will be introducing this legislation and would call for its implementation as soon as possible, in order to improve the levels of women's participation in politics.”

“I am also delighted that the Criminal Justice (Female Genital Mutilation) Bill 2011 will be introduced in the Seanad this Thursday. I have worked with Amnesty, Akidwa, the IFPA and other NGOs on this issue for many years, and first initiated a private member's bill on FGM in 2010, when it got cross-party support. I am very pleased to see that this important piece of legislation will be the first Government bill to be debated in the term of the new Seanad. Its passing will mark a significant step towards the improvement of the rights of women, particularly migrant women, living in Ireland.”

ENDS