Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I have a not dissimilar question. I congratulate Mr. Lambrinidis on his post.

I have a particular interest in gender equality issues as an aspect of our foreign policy. I was particularly interested in what Mr. Lambrinidis stated about the growth in denial of the universality of rights and the denial of rights on the basis of different value systems, different religions, different cultures or different stages of development. Such denials are particularly invidious. They are much worse than targeting a particular group of people or individual women who rock the boat because it is a justification for targeting and denying rights to half the population. How does Mr. Lambrinidis deal with this? It is frustrating when witnesses appear before the committee who, if one raises these issues, will state how much they respect their women. The reality is that these women are denied every right. Under the guise of protection, they are denied economic rights, legal rights and sexual rights. All of their rights are denied them on the basis that they are so respected that they themselves could not possibly make any use of these rights and, basically, they will be protected by men. How does one move from this position? It is not something that will be changed overnight, but how does one even begin to deal with it?