Referendum on gender equality to take place in Ireland this year

It will take place in November.

The Government has announced that there will be a referendum on gender equality held later this year.

Proposals for constitutional amendments are to be published by the end of June and a referendum is set to take place in November.

This follows the recommendations made by the Citizen’s Assembly on Gender Equality two years ago.

It recommends that amendments to Articles 40 and 41 of the Constitution including the “women in the home” reference be deleted and replaced.

It has also been recommended that the Constitution should refer to gender equality and non-discrimination.

A Special Oireachtas Committee has been created in order to consider these recommendations, concluding its work in December.

Following the announcement of the referendum, the Government said it will now establish an inter-departmental group this month which will agree on the proposals.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that women and girls have been discriminated against at home and in the workplace for far too long and supports the plans for gender equality.

“For too long, women and girls have carried a disproportionate share of caring responsibilities, been discriminated against at home and in the workplace, objectified or lived in fear of domestic or gender-based violence,” Mr Varadkar said.

“I am pleased to announce that the Government plans to hold a referendum this November to amend our Constitution to enshrine gender equality and to remove the outmoded reference to women in the home, in line with the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality.”

Header image via Shutterstock 

This article originally appeared on herfamily.ie

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