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women were disproportionately affected by Covid-19 was in terms of domestic abuse. Sarah Benson of Women’s Aid Ireland, discussed how abusive partners would cough on their wives in order to “weaponise” the virus and cause further distress. Calls to Women Aid reporting domestic abuse rose by 43 per cent compared to this time last year. That is similar to the figures shared by the UN on how domestic violence calls increased by 30 per cent in France, 33 per cent in Singapore and 25 per cent in Argentina. Women are also putting themselves more at risk of contracting the virus than their male counterparts,which again, points to the fact women are disproportionately affected by the virus. Per the Higher Education Authority 96 per cent of nursing graduates in Ireland are female while per the UN, globally women make up 70 pre cent of the workforce. Racial Prejudice. Human rights violations. Sexism. These are things that have made the pandemic that bit more difficult for some people. Please let us be mindful of it.
An Insight Into the Ongoing Struggle for Trans Rights in Ireland Michael Archer SF Law and Political Science Editor’s Note: This article contains reference to suicide, self harm and transphobia, which some readers may find distressing Until recently, Ireland was a homogenous society dominated by Catholicism. This affected every aspect of people’s lives, and very little was free from the interference of the Catholic Church. Ireland has since undergone seismic social changes as it gradually became a more secularised state. This has brought significant improvements in the quality of life for LGBTQ+ individuals. The marriage equality referendum in 2015 was indicative of just how far Ireland has come as a nation as we became the first country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage by popular vote. However, despite this overt shift in social progress, the rights of trans people still go unrecognised in Ireland. Terms such as ‘non-binary’ are still absent in Irish law. Ergo, from a social perspective, the employment of correct terminology is imperative to clarify distinctions between gender identity, gender expression, sex and sexual orientation. TENI (Transgender Equality Network Ireland) emphasizes the importance of using appropriate terminology to respect individuals’ rights to self-identity. The term ‘sex’ can be defined as the “designation of a person at birth as male or female based on their anatomy or biology”. The term ‘gender identity’ refers to one’s deeply felt identification as a gender which may correspond to their assigned sex at birth. The manifestation of one’s gender identity is referred to as ‘gender expression’. Conversely, an individual’s ‘sexual orientation’ refers to their ‘physical, romantic or emotional attraction’ to another person. A ‘trans’ or ‘transgender’ person is someone whose ‘gender identity and/or gender expression differs from the sex assigned to them at birth.’ These terms strive to be as inclusive as possible. Concomitantly, a non-trans person should be referred to as a ‘cisgender’ person. This is of great importance, because it acknowledges that everybody has a gender identity, helping to remove the stigma around trans identities by presenting them as equal to cisgender identities. The phrase ‘non-binary’ is used as a term for “gender identities that fall outside the gender binary of male or female”. Individuals under this umbrella-term may describe themselves in various ways, ranging from ‘gender fluid’ to ‘gender variant’. We must recognize and respect the gender identity of every single individual in our country, as nobody should feel less than another person.
