Women and Politics in the Northern Ireland Assembly Event

Thursday 23 October 2014

Please watch the video of the Committee’s Inquiry event on 23 October 2014, regarding Women in Politics and the NI Assembly

Introduction

The Assembly and Executive Review Committee is a Standing Committee established in accordance with Section 29A and 29B of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (“the 1998 Act”) and Standing Order 59 which, amongst other powers, provide for the Committee to: 

1. make a report to the Secretary of State, the Assembly and the Executive Committee, by no later than 1 May 2015, on the operation of Parts III and IV of the Northern Ireland Act 1998; and
2. consider such other matters relating to the functioning of the Assembly or the Executive as may be referred to it by the Assembly.

Assembly and Executive Review Committee’s Terms of Reference for and approach to this Review

In April; 2014 the Committee agreed to hold an Inquiry into “Women in Politics and the Northern Ireland Assembly”. The Committee agreed the Terms of Reference of this Review on 24 June 2014 as follows:

1. Analyse the key challenges / barriers facing women in relation to entry into politics in Northern Ireland and in particular this Assembly
2. Examine potential existing initiatives which would assist women in relation to entry into politics in this Assembly
3. Examine what are the merits of ‘positive actions’ that have been successful within the United Kingdom and Ireland and within other jurisdictions, and to consider their potential impact in the context of Northern Ireland and in particular this Assembly
4. Provide recommendations / conclusions on i to iii above, including initiatives / mechanisms to enhance the role of women already active in the political arena in Northern Ireland and in particular this Assembly

Matters Outside the Scope of the Review

The Committee has agreed that the following issue is outside of the scope of the Review :  

• Alternative electoral systems / models

Phase 1 – Review Evidence Gathering

The Review will take evidence on Women in Politics in the Northern Ireland Assembly in relation to the (i) to (iv) above. This will include evidence from Assembly Research and Information Services, expert / academic witnesses, a public ‘Call for Evidence’ and from visits to other legislatures.

Phase 2 – Consideration and Report

The Committee will consider all evidence received in relation to Women in Politics and the Northern Ireland Assembly and report and provide recommendations / conclusions to the Assembly on these matters by in late autumn 2014.

In response to its Call for Evidence the Committee received 15 submissions from a variety of stakeholders ranging from women’s group, equality organisations, academics, trade unions and political parties.

The Committee heard oral evidence from women’s groups, a senior academic from Queens University Belfast and the former Deputy Speaker to the Assembly. Copies of the Minutes of Evidence for these evidence sessions can be found here.

The Committee commissioned and considered a number of key pieces of research relevant to the Review. Copies of the Research papers can be found here.

Finally, the Committee undertook two study visits to Wales and Iceland to explore models of good practice that aim to increase the number of women in politics. Copy of the blogs on the visit can be found here: http://blog.niassembly.gov.uk/2014/06/committee-visits-wales-to-explore.html

Format for Event 23 October 2014

Attached is a page which contains a breakdown of four key areas which has been presented to the Committee in the evidence to date.

The four areas are:

1. Barriers and challenges
2. Good Models of Practice
3. Positive Action
4. Initiatives / Programmes

This Inquiry Event is an opportunity to ensure that the Committee has heard all the evidence in relation to these key areas in order to inform its recommendations in its Review Report.

You will hear four speakers whose role is to prompt a 15 minute discussion at your allocated roundtable. This will be facilitated by a Chairperson (an MLA) and a Rapporteur who will capture the main points of the discussion.

The aim is to identify workable, practical models of best practice for both Assembly and political parties to encourage and facilitate greater participation of women in politics in Northern Ireland.

At each table will be representatives from women’s’ groups, youth sector, academia, local government and Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Background

The following sections provide information relating to Women in politics and the Northern Ireland Assembly drawn from the Northern Ireland Assembly Research & Information Service Research paper NIAR 570-13.

Statistical Outline

The Northern Ireland Assembly currently has 22 female Members out of a total of 108 (22%), although 20 women were elected in 2011, the net increase being due to two more female than male co-option by a party and independent Member replacing Members since the election. 38 female and 180 male candidates stood in the 2011 Assembly elections (17.4%).

If placed in international perspective alongside national legislatures, the Northern Ireland Assembly would rank 70 th in the world. Apart from the Italian regional legislatures, the Northern Ireland Assembly has significantly lower female representation than comparable Western European legislatures.

The following figures place the Assembly in the perspective of female political representation in Northern Ireland and in general.

• 23.5% of Local Councillors in 2011 were women (compared with 31% in England)
• With 5 of 26 Mayors /Chairs of Councils were women
• 4 of 18 MPs are women (compared with 22% in GB)
• 2 of 3 MEPs are women (compared with 30% in GB)
• 4 of 15 Ministers and Junior Ministers are women
• 4 Chairpersons and 2 Deputy Chairperson of Committees are women out of 18 Committees

The representation of women in politics in Northern Ireland has a direct association with candidate selection. An examination of the 2011 Assembly elections indicates that female candidates generally fared better than their male counterparts in terms of votes won, but the lower numbers elected were more reflective of lower numbers of candidates.

Policy

The Beijing Platform for Action of 1995, which consists of a range of commitments by governments to address structural disadvantages experienced by women internationally, includes specific measures to increase women’s participation in power and decision-making.

These include:

Strategic Objective G.1: Take measures to ensure women’s equal access to and full participation in power structures and decision-making.

Strategic Objective G.2: Increase women’s capacity to participate in decision-making and leadership.

The Belfast Agreement 1998 includes a commitment to ‘the right of women to full and equal political participation’.

The vision for the Gender Equality Strategy for Northern Ireland states:

Men and women will be able to realise their full potential to contribute equally to the political, economic, social, (including caring roles) and cultural development of Northern Ireland and benefit equally from the results.

One of the Key Action Areas of the Strategy is ‘representation in public life/decision-making’, which is associated with the following strategic objectives:

• To achieve better collection and dissemination of data;
• To achieve gender balance on all government appointed committees, boards and other relevant official bodies;
• To actively promote an inclusive society; and
• To ensure the participation of women and men in all levels of peace building, civil society, economy and government

Legislative Frameworks

Elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly are provided for in the Northern Ireland Act 1998. There are no provisions for gender equality relating to elections in the Act.

The Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act 2002 amends the Sex Discrimination Northern Ireland) Order 1976 to exempt the selection of election candidates from the provision of the Order. This enables political parties to use positive discrimination for the promotion of women candidates over men. This provision has been extended to 2030.

¹ Seeking Critical Mass Gender Equality in the Boardroom

² Twinning: It involved two electoral districts together selecting one man and one woman, respectively, in order to achieve balanced representation

³ Zipping: the two first candidates on the list must be of opposite sex and what is crucial is that it starts with a woman