International Women's Day 2006
After 15 years of economic growth, women in Ireland are still second class citizens



Socialist Party leaflet - Available as a PDF here

Is the opening of Peter Stringfellow’s lap dancing club in Dublin a symbol of the New Ireland?

Stringfellow is presented as the respectable face of the sex industry. Clubs like Stringfellows seek to normalise the portrayal of women as simply objects for men’s entertainment.

These clubs are the "respectable" face of the sex industry, a multi-billion euro industry profiteering on the sexual exploitation of women. There have been many reports of immigrant women coming to work in lap dancing clubs. Many of these women are forced into the sex industry by economic circumstances and have horrific working conditions. The UN believes that 2 million women and children are trafficked every year. At least 500,000 women are trafficked into Europe alone.

Women in the workforce

Decades after the introduction of equal pay legislation women still earn 14% less than their male counterparts. There are has been a significant increase in the number of women in the work force due to the economic boom. However, women still make up the majority of part time workers, and are the majority in the service sector which is made up of predominately lower paid jobs. Women also make up a majority of the lower grades in the public service. Well over half of people who earn the minimum wage are women. Women in Ireland are at greater risk of poverty than women in any other EU state. This is despite the greatest expansion of the economy in history.

We have seen many examples recently, such as Irish Ferries where the Bosses are stepping up attacks on workers jobs and conditions under the guise of competition – areas like the service industry will be prime sector for attack and women will be at the sharp edge of these attacks.

Childcare

The high cost of childcare is one of the main factors why women are forced into part –time often lower paid employment. Parents in Ireland currently spend 20% of their income on childcare in other EU states the average is 8%. A lone parent with two children can pay up to 80% of their income on childcare. Just 1 % of GNP would provide basic childcare for all pre school children and limited after school care for school going children.

The government’s response to this crisis has been outrageous. In the recent budget they attempted to buy our votes by advancing a payment to all children under six! The average child care cost per child is €200 per week. SO the government’s generous offer will pay for 5 weeks child care for one child! As this was being introduced it was revealed that through a clever series of "legal" tax evasion measures provided by the government had assisted the most wealthy in our society to avoid paying €5 billion in taxes.

Why women need Socialism

The vast majority of women today, no matter what part of the world they live in, are hit hardest by the neo-liberal profit-driven and brutal attacks against the working class as a whole. These attacks especially affect women in the developing world. Still, even in the most advanced capitalist power in the world, the United States, women's rights have been under attack as George Bush has leaned on the Christian right who want to end a woman's right to abortion. In Ireland, ten years and many referenda after the ruling by the Supreme Court in the x case there is still no legislation even on these very limited grounds for abortion. But women have fought back - the 'Million Women' march in April 2004 was the biggest ever women's rights demonstration in the USA.

It was through collective struggles that women won the right to vote, to - at least on paper - be legally entitled to equal pay, and for the right to have an abortion. Women's right to choose cannot be demanded on an individual level nor can it be achieved in abstract terms. Real change to women's lives is inextricably linked to change in the economic and social conditions for the whole of the working class. Working class women experience double oppression based on gender and class and it is in the interest of all workers to fight this. Sexism and discrimination divide workers and cut across the unity and solidarity needed for a successful struggle for real equality and liberation.

Change the system

The oppression of women by its nature divides working men and women in their constant struggle for a better life and it is therefore crucial to overcome this divide for a joint workers struggle. Similarly, it is through unity of men and women that it is possible to change the way that society is run - a necessary development to end discrimination and achieve real equality. Capitalism is a system based on inequality of power and wealth. It was with the rise of society divided into classes that the oppression of women developed.

We need a completely different way of organising society. We need a social and economic system where services are provided and production is planned to meet the needs of all, rather than profits of the few. We need to democratically control the decisions which affect our lives and the lives of our families on a day-to-day basis - we need socialism.

Democratic public ownership of resources which are controlled and managed by workers' and in the communities would mean everyone having access to a decent job, housing, education, health and other services. Moreover, with co-operation and enhancement of talents, REAL choice and equality can flourish and we can put an end to poverty, oppression and all forms of discrimination, and finally witness the REAL emancipation of women.