Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

It does seem like a bit of a pointless exercise, to be frank, to be making statements into the void but how and ever, we shall plough on. In regard to International Women's Day, far from the flowers and candy, in Italy there will be a general strike to coincide with International Women's Day, involving transport, education, healthcare and other workers. In Argentina, tens of thousands will again march against President Milei, who views abortion as aggravated homicide and has a very dangerous agenda. In Pakistan, it has been revitalised as a day against gender violence and honour killings. Across the US, while our Taoiseach goes to greet the predator-in-chief, millions will hopefully march against President Trump.

International Women's Day has its roots in socialist feminism, far from the boardrooms that the Fine Gael TD spoke about earlier. It was Clara Zetkin, a socialist and feminist, who inaugurated it in 1910.

It was taken up and became a rallying call for the rights of women against the system.

In Ireland on this international women's day, ROSA, the socialist feminist movement, has organised marches against gender-based violence. We are delighted we are supported in this by many survivors of gendered violence who are demanding action on the ten-point plan the Dáil agreed last week. These marches will be in Dublin at City Hall, Limerick, Galway in Eyre Square, all at 1 p.m., in Cork at 12 p.m., Belfast and, hopefully, in other places also. People will gather to drive home the message.

There is no way that capitalism can deliver equality for anybody, and it certainly cannot do so for women in the current period. The liberal era of reform and rights is completely gone. It has been declared well gone by the likes of Trump. Capitalism is now moving in much more violent and misogynistic direction. We have Trump, who has lauded sexual assault against women and who has intervened to free two sex traffickers who are leading the manosphere and spreading hate among young men. This is having a serious impact in some of the surveys we are seeing and the division of attitudes according to age and gender. It is very dangerous but it is all being allowed to happen. The liberal era is gone. We will have to fight for equality. We will have to demand our rights in this period. In my view, this can only be done by fighting capitalism as a system that is perpetuating genocide. We need less Barbie and more bolshie. This is my message.

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