By Nuala Toman, UK Feminista Regional Organiser for Northern Ireland
I’ve recently been appointed one of two Regional Organisers for UK Feminista in Northern Ireland. UK Feminista is relatively new grass roots organisation aimed at supporting people to campaign for a world where women and men are equal. Northern Ireland has a vibrant activist landscape and has recently witnessed an upsurge in grassroots feminism. There have been sit-ins, knit-ins, vigils and feminist tv. Stronger links with UK Feminista offer us the opportunity to tie in with a wider network of feminists. I recently attended FEM 11 in London and I was completely overwhelmed by the size and energy of the event. There were literally over a thousand feminists filling the venue inside and outside with their energy. To be able to tap into this wider movement is a great delight for me and will hopefully add something to the already vibrant feminist landscape in Northern Ireland.
There are a few key issues I would like to see addressed in Northern Ireland.
1. The Neglect of Women’s Role in the Conflict and Peace Building. Throughout the recent conflict and peace process women have played a vital role in community and wider activism. Women have also been impacted upon by the conflict which has largely been presented as a fight between men and as having a deeper impact upon the men in our society. It would be wonderful to see the stories come to light of how women have shaped our current political and community structures.
2. Women’s Representation in Political Life. 18% of MLAs in Northern Ireland are women. This means that women are drastically under-represented in political life. The level of women’s representation in the Northern Ireland Assembly has been consistently low and consistently problematic. It is time that women took the piece of politics that they deserve.
3. Building a Strong Activist Base. There is a vibrant and diverse fabric of activism in Northern Ireland. This is also reflected within feminist activism. It is important that the strength within diversity is fully utilised. In particular it should be accepted that is as ok to disagree as it is to agree. We need positive spaces for debate and development.
There are many more important topics to be addressed within the Northern Ireland Context. Trafficking is a major issue, as is rape and sexual assault and the approach adopted by the Police Service of Northern Ireland in addressing it. Safe and legal abortion remains inaccessible to most women in Northern Ireland within their own country. Unfortunately the medical profession operate in a context in which abortion is assumed to be illegal.
We are putting plans together for a feminist activist training event to be held in March 2012. We hope to deal with many of these issues at the event and we would like your input. Please take five minutes to complete our short survey about Building Feminist Activism in Northern Ireland. You can complete it by clicking on the link below. We would love to hear from you:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NIFeminista
If you have any questions about us or would like to get involved, you can contact us at nifeminista@gmail.com
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