CHANGING IRELAND ISSUE 30/31

Gender-related Conference on violence seeks out the guilty 220 women promise action in 15 countries A conference held in Limerick on November 26th ended on a high note with an international agreement by everyone present to take action and to make guilty parties accountable for what was described as a “global pandemic”.

The ‘Violence Against Women – A Global Crisis’ conference was five months in the making and involved 220 participants from 15 countries.

It was funded by Irish Aid and Trócaire.

Significantly, 3 out of every 10 women at the conference had direct experience of abuse/ discrimination.

Keynote speakers included women from Ireland, India and Tanzania and they took a feminist perspective on the challenges to women.

It was noted that domestic abuse and violence was on the rise in Ireland – notably financial abuse – as the recession bites.

“The needs are growing,” remarked Elaine Dalton of Clare Women’s Network which worked with Limerick Women’s Network (both CDPs) to help organise the conference with national body Banúlacht.

She made the point that while poverty might vary in its form from country to country, violence against women is the same everywhere: “There’s no difference between being beaten, raped, sexually abused, or indeed financially abused in Ireland or in other countries.”

The conference was held as part of the international ‘16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence’ and held in Thomond Park.

It looked at the work that organisations were doing in Ireland and the South to eradicate violence against women and featured contributions from: Amnesty International, the National Traveller Women's Forum, Akidwa, West Clare Women's Forum, Women's Aid, Trócaire, Clare Haven House, NUI Galway, Hill Street Family Resource Centre, the Feminist

Open Forum, and the Joint Consortium on Gender Based Violence, among others.

Look out for the next Banúlacht conference at: www.banulacht.ie For the latest news: http://banulacht.blogspot. com/

Men never ready to go on the dole MDN links with projects to meet challenge The Men’s Development Network (MDN) began a National Survey of CDPs in September to measure the extent of men’s engagement with projects nationwide. The MDN is seriously

concerned about about the effect of the downturn and unemployment on men.

The survey work is a follow-up to an earlier one looking at men’s engagement with the FRCs nationally. Between the two programmes, the survey covers 287 projects across Ireland.

MDN’s CDP survey is on men’s engagement

Violence Against Women Conference organisers: Liz Price, Limerick Women’s Network, Maeve Taylor, Banulacht, Elaine Dalton, Clare Women’s Network and Eileen Smith, Banulacht.

On average in the West, people move house every 7 years.

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with CDPs both developmentally and on health issues. Unemployment and the threat of unemployment can be hugely stressful for men themselves, and for their families, their partners and their children.

Here are some of the reasons why: • Unemployment and Men’s Conditioning: how it hits the individual • Men are conditioned to be providers: when they lose their jobs they feel guilt at not delivering on their family’s needs.

• Men are conditioned to compete: when they lose their jobs they feel shame at not being good enough to be kept on.

• Men are conditioned to be strong: when they lose their jobs they feel unable and weak.

• Men are conditioned to be in control: when they lose their jobs they have no control over any element of their lives.

• Men are conditioned to find their identity from their work: when they lose their jobs they lose their identity and place, in the family, in their community.

• Men are conditioned to find solutions: when they lose their jobs there is no solution, they are at the mercy of things they don’t understand; recession, credit crunch, downturn; there is no solution and this brings despondency and depression.

• Men are conditioned to find the solution in themselves: when they can’t they become increasingly withdrawn, depressed and isolated.

• Men are not conditioned to be out of work If you haven’t already done so, please complete the e-mail survey now and it will be automatically returned to MDN. If you have not received the survey, e-mail nclarke@mens-network.net and he’ll send you one straight away.

For more info, contact: Men’s Development NetworK, 30 O’Connell St. Waterford Ireland Tel. 051-844260/1 www.mens-network.net

EU’s most-at-risk are low-skilled Irish

“If you have low skills in Ireland you are more likely to be unemployed than in any other EU country. Currently 30% of the workforce has only Junior Certificate, 10% has only primary level education and a further 25% of adults lack basic literacy skills,” said Inez Bailey, director of the National Adult Literacy Agency.

“The amount of low skilled employment is quickly slipping away and these people are most at risk of becoming unemployed, especially with the recent slowdown in the economy,” she added.

Inez was speaking in advance of the launch of NALA’s new campaign, ‘Take on learning. Take on life.’

The launch marked the opening event of National Adult Literacy Awareness Week which ran for a week in September.

To find out about NALA courses and supports, log onto: www.nala.ie