Online abuse of female politicians is becoming more extreme and is discouraging woman from entering politics
IRELAND does not have enough women in political life.
Ahead of next year’s local and European elections, there will be a renewed focus on attracting more females into public life.
A report by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission in 2023 criticised the poor progress in raising the number of women TDs.
It said the State must address the structural barriers preventing women running from office.
And a University of Galway study found aggression against women on social media has become pervasive.
Here, Fianna Fail TD Niamh Smyth explains the forces that are still holding women back.
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ONE - that was the grand total of women elected in Ireland in the 1918 general election.
That one woman was, of course, Constance Markievicz, who, as well as being the first woman elected to both the Dail (then meeting illegally) and Westminster, became Europe’s first female cabinet member when she assumed the role of Minister for Labour in the Spring of 1919.
It would perhaps have been painful for the countess to imagine then, despite the great strides made by her and other prominent women, that women in Ireland would still be battling severe underrepresentation 100 years after her first general election win.
Since 1918, just 131 women have been elected to the Dail, compared to 1,211 men.
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According to Women for Election, just 23.1 per cent of TDs in the Dail are female, meaning amongst EU Member States, Ireland has the 6th lowest rate of female representation in the lower house of parliament.
While the rate of female participation in Irish politics has increased over the past three decades, men still accounted for almost 70 per cent of candidates in the 2020 general election.
As we approach 2024, we are far from achieving gender parity; women account for 38.3 per cent of Senators, 25.9 per cent of councillors and five — or 38.5 per cent — of our MEPs.
The underrepresentation of women is pertinent for political parties as at the next general election, at least 40 per cent of selected candidates must be women.
Election quota
A party failing to meet this quota will lose 50 per cent of its state funding.
To encourage female candidates, we must address the barriers to participation which are prevalent not just in Ireland, but globally.
These barriers, the 5Cs, are childcare, cash, confidence, culture (meaning the gendered culture in political parties) and the candidate selection procedure.
These barriers were referenced by a 2009 report on Women’s Participation in Politics produced by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality Defence and Women’s Rights.
In 2023, the 5Cs, while still relevant, fail to take account of the newest barrier facing women; coverage — namely the negative, abusive and misogynistic coverage of women politicians on social media.
Online abuse of female politicians is becoming more extreme and is having an impact in discouraging prospective female candidates.
Online abuse more extreme
As part of an NUIG study, researchers interviewed 78 former and current members of the Oireachtas, as well as local councillors.
Of these, 96 per cent reported having received social media or email messages containing threatening language.
Three-quarters of the interviewees said they had been threatened with physical violence online, 38 per cent reported they had been threatened with sexual violence and 28 per cent said they had been verbally abused in public.
Given these shocking findings, it is no surprise that the interviewees admitted to having considered quitting politics.
In response to the increasing abuse, An Ceann Comhairle, Sean O Fearghail established the Task Force on Safe Participation in Political Life.
While we await its report, we in Fianna Fail welcome the establishment of Coimisiun na Mean, Ireland’s new authority for online safety.
Safety code
The Coimisiun’s online safety code, to be finalised by early 2024, will set out rules for how online services deal with defined categories of harmful content, including hate speech and threats.
Failure to comply with the code will incur financial sanctions of up to €20million and criminal penalties will apply for continued non-compliance.
Combined, the work of both the Task Force and the Coimisiun will go a long way to tackling the awful online abuse hurled at female politicians daily.
Fianna Fail will celebrate the centenary of its founding in 1926, marking 100 years since Constance Markievicz chaired the first meeting of the party.
We will continue to do our utmost to promote gender equality, support women in politics and create an Ireland for all.