Submission to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women on Ireland’s combined sixth and seventh periodic reports (January 2017)

Ireland is a party to CEDAW, to which Ireland acceded in 1985. Ireland also committed to having its record under the Convention reviewed periodically by the UN’s CEDAW Committee. Ireland was examined by the CEDAW Committee in February 2017 for the first time since 2005. Accordingly, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (‘IHREC’) prepared a detailed report on Ireland’s record under the Convention to help inform the CEDAW Committee’s assessment of Ireland, and to highlight gaps in the protection of women’s rights in Ireland, submitting it to the CEDAW Committee in advance of the latter’s examination of Ireland. IHREC conducted an extensive nationwide consultation on the implementation of the Convention, conducting focus groups with marginalised groups of women, research visits to women living in detention facilities, and research visits to women seeking asylum and women refugees living in direct provision centres. In its submission, it was recommended that Ireland develop structures both at Governmental and parliamentary level to ensure the full implementation of the recommendations of the UN treaty monitoring bodies. In order to assist with implementing human rights obligations, IHREC considered that improvements need to be made to data collection systems. One such area where more data are needed is in the context of training of public officials in relation to women’s rights and gender equality. IHREC also observed that there exist gaps in the State’s ratification of international treaties in relation to treaties which have particular relevance to women’s rights, such as the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention.