There is a danger, because the economy is doing so well, that people will ignore the human rights abuses suffered by Irish women, the vice-chairwoman of the Labour Party has said.
Ms Joan Burton, a former TD, was speaking yesterday at the launch of a Women's Rights Campaign initiated by Women's Aid to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. The campaign aims to focus on human rights issues faced by different sectors of Irish women.
Ms Ursula Barry, of the Women's Education, Research and Resource Centre in UCD, said the human rights issue had traditionally been constructed according to a male agenda.
"It has looked at institutionalised state violence without recognising that violence can occur in the private sphere," she said.
Ms Rosaleen McDonagh, a traveller living on a halting site in Dublin said women travellers frequently had to face domestic violence, violence from the police, their children falling ill more frequently than those of settled women and the prospect of dying 10 years younger than "her settled sister".
Ms Nuala Ward, a lesbian and gay rights activist, said Irish society celebrated heterosexuality, and there was inadequate education in schools about different sexualities.
"As a lesbian I feel I am more vulnerable to being attacked, and I just feel that there should be room for everyone. It is not just the responsibility of women to tackle these issues. It is the responsibility of policy-makers, the people that have the money, to see that we all have the rights to the resources and the feeling that we have somewhere to turn if our rights are violated." She called for training for gardai to deal with situations of victimisation.
Ms Fardus Sultan-Prnjavorac of Ireland Bosnia Action called on the Government to recognise that crimes against women such as rape were being systematically perpetrated in Bosnia, saying the Government "must honour its commitments to press for the arrest of war criminals".
Ms Barry responded to a comment that the event was "just another women's talking shop".
"The aim of this campaign is to bring different women together whose issues are not the usual `woman's issues'," she said.
The National Lesbian Help-line can be reached on (01) 872 1717.
