In her book Homes and Crisis Capitalism (2024), scholar Marnie Holborow notes that, “…delivering real protection for women who are suffering domestic abuse is vital. This requires a recognition that homes cannot be left to run as isolated individual units based on what society considers a natural state of affairs. People should have real choices about how and with whom they live. The public provision of varied and different forms of living, including places where women with children can go to get away from abusive and violent situations, is a basic social need”.
The Workers Party agrees. In our submission to the Stormont consultation on employers providing safe leave for sufferers of domestic abuse, we note that Domestic Abuse is gender based, i.e., 75% of perpetrators are male, and that, “while it is vital to raise awareness provide support and demand an effective strategy to create a safer environment for women, It is also essential to locate the sources of oppression and exploitation of women within society and the capitalist system".
This system not only fails to address the root causes of the exploitation of women, but also contributes to their continuing oppression. The system and society we live in, undervalues women in the workplace, in the home and in every other aspect of their lives.
Women are the unpaid carers in the family, the underpaid workers in the workplace, they are exploited by the use of zero-hour contracts, precarious employment and the gender pay gap. Working class women are held back by the sticky floor and the glass ceiling and a benefit system that disproportionately affects women.”