Between November 25th and December 10th Party structures and branches will be discussing the growing level of Violence against women and girls across the world. The Party has made a number of submissions on the violence faced by women and how little progress has been made on protecting women through legislation, policies, and government funding. One of the policies we will be looking at is the Safe Leave Provision, on which the Party made a detailed response to the consultation document. Yet, there is still no progress or detailed response from the Executive on its implementation.

The Workers Party in its submission on the Safe Leave consultation highlighted 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 it 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.

The misogyny that is expressed and encouraged nationally and internationally is growing and is uncontested by those in power. Donald Trump’s latest misogynistic comments to a woman journalist by telling her to “quiet, piggy” went unchallenged by the journalists and others in attendance.