Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish a very happy International Women's Day to all the ladies in the Ceann Comhairle's world.

International Women’s Day is a day when we can celebrate the advances and achievements by women across the globe towards gender equality. Women who wanted a better life for themselves, their daughters and their granddaughters made sacrifices to make the mountain that little bit taller so that women today can see that little bit further. It needs to be recognised that while progress has been made to some degree in Ireland, it has been achieved by generations of strong women who stood up to seize the mantle and demand change from the State and from successive governments.

It is important to recognise the incredible courage and resilience of women in areas of war and conflict, famine and hunger. In Gaza today, an average of more than three women are killed every hour. Many women look into the sky and wonder if the aeroplanes will bring death or food. Many women who have lost their homes and entire families are continuing to care for others. Many still work as doctors, nurses and first responders in hospitals and areas that are bombed daily. Many are acting in place of journalists to report to the world the atrocities that are taking place in their communities.

It is also important to recognise the women in countries such as Afghanistan where basic rights are denied to women on a daily basis. It is important that we use our platform here to amplify the voices of women who are marginalised and under-represented, to advocate for their rights, to promote women’s rights and gender equality and to support the struggle against gender-based discrimination. Silence is not an option. We still have a long way to go here in Ireland. Gardaí received a domestic abuse call every ten minutes last year. That is almost 60,000 calls. Women’s Aid's "femicide watch" makes truly harrowing reading. Some 268 women died violently between 1996 and today, and some 171 of them were killed in their own homes. One in every two was killed by a current or former intimate partner. Each of these women had their boundless potential cruelly stolen while families and communities were left devastated. I remind the House that over half of all domestic violence refuges are full and some areas remain with no refuge.

Women in Ireland and across the world continue to be targets for gender-based violence and stereotyping. In recent years they have come to face cyberstalking, online harassment and threats. We must work together to promote gender equality, to make education gender blind and to eliminate violence against women and girls. Ní saoirse go saoirse na mban.

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