Ms Yara Alagha:

I thank the Chair, clerk and members of the committee for inviting us here today. We have often fought very hard to be included in spaces where decisions are being made for us and on behalf of us so it is a really big achievement for us to be here and present today. My name is Yara. I am a board member of, and volunteer with, Amal Association. I am joined by Ms Nor Nasib, the treasurer and secretary of the organisation.

I will explain who we are and what we do. Amal means "hope" in Arabic, and very simply that is what we aim to espouse We give hope to women by supporting them and providing direction and guidance to meet their needs. We are a women-led organisation. We provide front-line services to Muslim women and women with a connection to the Muslim community nationwide, including ethnic migrant women and refugees. Our mission is to create a community support network that bring hope to Muslim women across Ireland. Our vision is for an Ireland where all women can live free from violence, poverty, racism, discrimination and stigma. We believe in the cultural and religious rights of women and their families to access the services that meet their needs.

Every year, we help hundreds of Muslim and migrant women with a range of issues and challenges. In particular, we help women experiencing gender-based violence and support those accessing health and mental health services. We support families dealing with State services, including housing, immigration and social or domestic problems. We are often the first port of call for these women and families and we then provide a support and referral service.

I will give a background on some of the research and investigative work we have been doing. We recently conducted and launched our A Mother is Born Too research, led by Dr. Camilla Fitzsimons from Maynooth University and supported by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. It explored Muslim women’s experiences in maternity care settings in Ireland.

The research also included healthcare workers and their experience in caring for Muslim women. Before I discuss the findings, I will preface it by saying that Muslim and non-Muslim women have positive experiences in Irish hospitals, with individual acts of kindness that have made a huge difference in their lives. This is especially so for first-time mothers who do not have family to support them during what is one of the most significant and challenging times of their lives. I pay my respect and great gratitude to the healthcare workers who show heavenly care and patience, both during COVID and in ordinary times.

It is important to note that the findings of the research allude to a more systematic issue. One of the very concerning findings that came out of this research was that 4% of the participants when pregnant presented to the hospital, for the first time during their maternity, when they were in labour. This signals the barriers preventing expectant mothers from receiving the necessary medical attention and support they need before and post labour. Other findings found that many women experienced microaggressions in the form of general negative attitudes towards them. There were also incidents of macroaggressions, mostly verbal abuse, with women reporting being shouted at, told to remove their head scarves and hostile attitudes towards their need to remain as modest as possible in their clothing. Hospitals also frequently fell short in their obligations to provide an appropriate diet and effective interpretation services.

There are massive discrepancies in the State healthcare system when it comes to accommodating and providing culturally appropriate healthcare. Findings from engagement with healthcare workers signalled 31% of healthcare workers witnessing racism and discrimination towards Muslim women by other healthcare workers, 74% of healthcare workers were unaware of any policies in respect of providing quality, culturally specific care for Muslim women and one in five healthcare workers acknowledged shortcomings in their practice, referencing a gap in their knowledge relating to Muslim culture and a lack of confidence in their capacity to deliver appropriate care. As such, we need to remove the impediments for undocumented migrants, establish greater community support, educate healthcare workers in consultation with educators and experts as modelled by the UK’s cultural competence programme and ensure clear anti-racism policies in healthcare settings.

To end, I wish to mention some of the many services we have established and some we hope to develop, which like all other grassroots initiatives rely on stable and continual State funding streams. The cultural advocacy and mediation project, CAMP, addresses the difficulties faced by Muslim women and women with connections to the Muslim community. CAMP provides peer-led accompaniment and mediation services to Muslim and migrant women, empowering them with access to public services. The Amal Association court accompaniment service provides culturally appropriate and emotional support for Muslim women required to attend court. This includes practical support such as legal terminology translations and clarifications and guiding the court user on follow-up procedures. We aim to establish a bespoke migrant women’s refuge centre.

We have a yellow sticker initiative which was created against the backdrop of a very concerning increase in hate crime incidents against the migrant community. The objective of the initiative is that victims of hate crime and racist attacks could enter a space at the nearest point to the incident. That would include a retailer, local business or supermarket and a brief training would be given to the agreed parties about their role as a helper in such an incident. The victim could then access relevant support, assistance and the authorities in the meantime. We have our ongoing essential services and packages to asylum seekers in direct provision centres. Every Ramadan and Eid, we provide packs to families and individuals to ensure their basic needs are being met. This includes non-perishable foods, clothing, sanitary packs and toys and gifts for children.

Ms Nor Nasib and I are happy to take any questions the members may have. I thank the members for their time.