Motion no: 9
Conference, in 2016 the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) conducted a confidential investigation into allegations of grave and systematic violations suffered by women in Northern Ireland as a result of archaic and punitive legislation governing reproductive rights. The investigation heard evidence from civil society, including from Congress and a range of affiliates.
The report of their investigation was published in February 2018 and makes damning reading finding that:
The situation in Northern Ireland constitutes violence against women that may amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and further that denial of abortion and criminalisation of abortion amounts to discrimination against women because it is a denial of a service that only women need.
The Committee has made 13 recommendations for action, including the establishment of a mechanism to advance women’s rights concerning access to sexual and reproductive health including access to safe abortions.
Policy supporting the urgent reform of abortion legislation in Northern Ireland has been determined at previous Biennial Delegate Conferences, including in 2016 and Congress has joined our allies in vigorously pursuing this course of action.
Conference is therefore dismayed that the NI Executive has systematically failed to bring forward progressive reform of reproductive rights legislation.
Conference commends the ground-breaking research project which examined Abortion as a Workplace Issue. The research was carried out by Ulster University and surveyed some 3,180 trade union members finding that
What emerged clearly...was that this is a crucial issue for contemporary society. As the trade union movement is the largest civil society organisation in Ireland, North and South...52% of whom are women, unions have a responsibility to help inform wider societal views on abortion, abortion access and legal reform.
Conference calls on the incoming Northern Ireland Committee to:
Continue to campaign to ensure that women have access to reproductive rights;
Continue to campaign for the urgent reform of punitive and outdated laws governing abortion in Northern Ireland;
Continue to support organisations such as Alliance for Choice and their Trust Women campaign;
Consider the recommendations of the Impact of Abortion on the Workplace report and how these can be brought forward.
