National Women’s Council Identity
The National Women’s Council is the national representative organisation campaigning for rights and equality for women and girls. A non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1973, the NWC represents women’s groups around Ireland to advocate for gender equality. They campaign for women in leadership, women’s right to health, valuing care work, women’s economic independence, reaching out to young people and building the women’s movement. These ambitions illustrate the barriers to gender equality the NWC seek to overcome, as well as their proactive approach to promoting feminism and advancing women’s rights. In carrying out their work, the NWC are guided by their core values of feminism, solidarity, collaboration, inclusion and intersectionality.
Irish Context
Irish society still bears the scars of a history overshadowed by interference by the church, blighted by Magdalene Laundries for unwed mothers, the Marriage Bar imposed on working women and decades of religiously imposed oppression with devastating consequences for many women. Rape in marriage only became unlawful in 1990 with the first case prosecuted in 2002. However, over the past number of years Ireland has made significant changes to advance the cause of gender equality; most notably the ratification of CEDAW in 1985, the vote to repeal the eighth amendment and legalise abortion care in Ireland in 2018 {link to case study} and Ireland’s ratification of Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combatting violence against women in 2019. While we are closer than ever to gender equality, it is worth remembering how recent many of these events were, and how equality does not happen without the committed work of activists and advocacy organisations. That’s why the work of the NWC remains vital.