Women in the Party

Women play a full and equal role in The Workers' Party believing that the success of any venture or activity depends to a large extent on the involvement and commitment of women.
The Workers' Party was the first party in Ireland to raise the issue of equality of women in Dail Eireann; we were the first to elect a woman leader of any party in Ireland and we were the first party to introduce a gender quota - 40% of our Central Executive must be women. While we believe that it is important for women to be visible in politics our "feminism" in not the doctrine of gender representation but of equality.
The Women's Committee of the Party meet regularly to discuss and formulate policy and plan strategy. We do not confine our interests to so-called 'women's issues' - we believe every issue is a woman's issue and must be approached from a woman's - as well as a man's perspective.
It is a fact that the great strides forward by the Women's Movement over the past three decades have benefited mainly middle class educated women but have bypassed the vast majority of working class women who are still enslaved by the politics of poverty.
We encourage all women to become politically involved and hope to make The Workers' Party the natural milieu where their aspirations are expressed and their needs addressed .
Nationally and locally we campaign on issues which are relevant to the needs of women - health, childcare and family services, employment protection, training and education, civil liberties and not least environmental issues. Two of the most vociferous and active member of Dublin Corporation campaigning on these issues and on behalf of working class communities in general are the two women councillors from The Workers' Party.
In Northern Ireland our members are to the forefront promoting Peace and opposing sectarianism and violence in all its manifestations. Our Party was one of the four founding members of Northern Ireland Women's Political Forum One of the more positive organisations to emerge during the past few years it provides a platform for representatives of different political parties to meet and discuss diverse and often controversial topics.
One of the highlights of the Party year is the celebration of International Women's Day, in remembrance of the New York mill workers of 1908 who understood that "the raising of the women is the raising of the race". It is in this spirit that The Workers' Party insist that women must be at the heart of the class struggle - not the margins - vigorously exposing the contradictions and exclusions of an economic and social system which exploits women to sustain itself.