Michael D. Higgins: Life long Campaigner in Struggle to Free Irish Women from Servitude & Discrimination

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In the early 1970s, women were treated in Ireland as second-class citizens by the state and as the servants to men by the Catholic Church.
Married women were barred from working in the Civil Service; divorce and the sale of contraceptives were illegal; women got paid less than men for doing the same job; children’s allowances were paid only to fathers; barring orders did not exist to protect wives from violent husbands; wives could not legally refuse to have sex with their partners; women had no legal rights to a share of the family home.

For young women in education and work, there were even problems trying to obtain bank loans. Unlike their male counterparts, the banks were hesitant about providing loans to female students as it was felt that soon after leaving college, they would get married and lose the ability to repay by becoming house-bound wives with no independent incomes.

Michael D Higgins was at the forefront of all the major campaigns to secure equality for women. He was one of the very few members of the Oireachtas that stood by these issues of women’s rights from the 1970s onwards. As with Noel Browne a few decades previously, he earned the wrath of conservative and religious mainstream society at the time, condemned as someone that wanted to undermine family values. This was particularly evident in the Divorce referendum campaigns of 1980s and 1990s. Yet he never backed down in spite of the verbal and written tirades hurled at him

Global War on Women: Pakistani social media star strangled to death by her brother.

Qandeel Baloch, a young social media star from Punjab who highlighted the right of women to be independent and equal through her online and sometimes provocative comments, photos and videos, was strangled to death by her brother in an apparent 'honour killing'.

Every year hundreds of Pakistani women are killed for supposedly 'dishonouring' their families. I abhor the term 'honour' in this context. Whose 'honour'? Certainly not that of females. What gives men the right of life and death over women in order to satisfy their warped sense of 'honour'?

In every country and in every culture women today are being victimised, from being imprisoned, raped and trafficked across borders to serve the sexual predatory whims of males in North America & Europe; to female genital mutilation; to be given as war trophies to Boko Haram and ISIS fighters; to being denied equality in job opportunities and in law. Women are always the first and main casualties of wars, and of course all such brutal conflicts are started by men.
We need to confront these misogynistic crimes that are committed against half the world's population and which are 'justified' on grounds of religious and cultural traditions.

Polish Eurovision Entry Promotes Sexual Exploitation of Women

The Poland entry into Eurovision 2014 was about the sexual exploitation of women. It wasn't even subtle in its message. As anyone that knows me will confirm, I am far from being conservative on issues of sex. 

But the message of the Polish entry particularly in its video objectified women and deliberately promoted young females in the role of sex slaves. Not exactly child-friendly television. Nor what one would expect from an egalitarian European society. 

In a month when teenage girls are being abducted, taken as war booty and used as sex slaves by armed men in Nigeria and the Central African Republic; when women are being kidnapped and gang raped by armed gangs in the south Sudan; when female children are being forced into marriage in Yemen, Egypt, Afghanistan and Pakistan; when girls are denied the right to an education by Islamic fundamentalists; when women are not allowed to vote, to drive a car and travel without the permission of a male relative in Saudi Arabia; when polygamy (for men) has been legalised in Kenya;when women are losing their former societal status as equals and being forced out of jobs in Libya and Syria; when the Internet is increasing the sexual enslavement of female teenagers; when child pornography(through the medium of the Web) is increasing in the Philippines; when we learn from ex-US President Jimmy Carter that c100,000 people are being trafficked annually into the United States to work as slaves mainly in the sex trade; this song, video and message is not appropriate. 

I love Poland and generally enjoy watching the Eurovision. But this year I have to say, Shame Poland! Shame Eurovision!

Click here to see my previous short article on the Web facilitating an upsurge in Female Exploitation & Slavery

‘Cyber Girls’ Movement Coming to Galway

Rails Girls Galway, DERI NUI Galway, 2013

For the second year in succession, an important, beneficial and exciting event aimed towards females interested in computing technology and engineering will take place this summer in NUI Galway.

Entitled ‘Rails Girls Galway’, it is part of a worldwide movement that hopes to bridge the gender divide in technology and to facilitate women in learning how to code.

The free weekend workshop will provide women with the tools and the collective learning community to build web applications and software services. It will be held on Friday and Saturday June 20^th to June 21^st at the Insight Centre for Data Analytics located in the Dangan IDA/NUIG Business Park.

Rails Girls Galway, DERI NUI Galway, 2013

The organisers comprise mainly young female IT researchers involved in local third level colleges, businesses, schools and volunteer digital makers’ clubs. Though primarily targeting the local female population, there will also be participants from across Ireland and from overseas. 
 

091 Labs PRO, Alanna Kelly, working on a 1982 Dragon 32 at the Computer & Communications Museum NUIG

The weekend event is free, is open to all women of any age from sixteen years upwards, and is suitable for those who wish to learn how to code to those who are experienced programmers. The workshops will use 'Ruby on Rails', a powerful web application framework for the Ruby programming language.

Mercy Secondary girls & teacher with Ina O'Murchú

According to Myriam Leggieri, Insight researcher and one of the chief organisers, “Last year’s event in Galway was an outstanding success with women of all ages from a range of backgrounds learning together. We want to build on the dynamic that was so evident in 2013 and to make ‘Rail Girls’ an annual activity in a city that is and can develop even more as a vibrant hub for digital industries and innovation. Ireland needs a generation of indigenous young coders of both sexes to help lay the foundations of the ‘Knowledge Economy’ and create the products for a sustainable future. But there is in particular a serious shortage of female IT developers in the country and across the world as well as in the professions of science, technology, engineering and maths professions generally. There is no reason why this should be the case except for a lack of exposure to such environments. Events such as 'Rails Girls' directly address this issue and empower girls to take the first step in learning these in-demand skills and acquiring the skills to conquer one of the last great frontiers of science, namely the World Wide Web.”

Computer & Communications Museum of Ireland, Insight, NUI Galway

The first event, launched by Linda Liukas and Karri Saarinen, was held in Helsinki in 2010. It now is a worldwide phenomena. Karri succinctly summarised the philosophy behind the movement:

“The Internet was built by and for boys. As a girl, one often feels like lacking the vocabulary to access it. With ‘Rails for Girls’, we want to demystify the world of web applications and encourage women to learn about software development and programming. We believe that women need the skills and language to understand that world.”

Computer & Communications Museum of Ireland, Insight, NUI Galway

Further information and application forms are available at www.railsgirls.com/galway. There are a limited amount of places available so prompt registration is recommended. Closing date is June 5th. So apply now! 

Mother & daughter, Coderdojo Galway city, Insight, NUI Galway

The Web is Facilitating an Upsurge in Female Exploitation & Slavery.

As someone that campaigned for women and gay rights whilst a student activist during the 'dark days' of the late 1970s & early 1980s, and as someone who lived in Iceland for three years, I admire the present efforts of the Icelandic feminist-led government to ban online violent or degrading pornography which is largely based around the enforced exploitation of young people. 
It is worth noting that Iceland has being at the forefront of female emancipation for decades and presently tops the Global Gender Equality list. 

See The Economist article on the proposed new legislation.

The World Wide Web is one of the greatest beneficial inventions of humanity. But sadly it has been used as a weapon to enslave people particularly women worldwide. 
I see in my dealings with vulnerable people, amongst asylum seekers and others.We are living in an era where slavery has being reborn facilitated by technology

Michael D. Higgins: Conscience of the Nation

In a period of public disillusionment with a governing system that has been exposed as too often serving vested interests, that sold off our country’s assets and the labour of generations not yet born to pay foreign moneylenders for the gambling debts of bankers, property speculators and their political lackeys, it is refreshing to know that there are still politicians whose actions and deeds mark them off as servants of the people rather than abusers of public office. None more so than Michael D Higgins whose career spanning six decades has been about implementing the ideals of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic “…that guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens…to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation…cherishing all the children of the nation equally…”.

His life has been a never-ending campaign against poverty and oppression and against the powerful elites of church and state both here and abroad who stood in the way of securing equality, justice and due recognition for women, children, gays, artists, minorities and the disabled. He has served as the conscience of the nation on so many occasions and on so many issues, sometimes giving voice to the voiceless, reminding us all, time and time again, of the core values and responsibilities that underpin citizenship, democracy and natural justice. Often this struggle has been a lonely one even within his own political party.

Over the years he has encountered many political setbacks and much personal vilification. But such obstacles never daunted him and today he burns with the same passion, intellect and idealism that he has always possessed. In the last Dáil, he was one of only eighteen TDs that voted against the catastrophic bank bailout.

Michael D sits amongst the pantheon of heroic government ministers that include Frank Aiken, Noel Browne, Seán Lemass and Donough O’Malley whose visionary actions have brought long-lasting benefits to the country. As the first Minster for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, he established TG4, re-invigorated the Irish film industry, gave legal protection to wildlife habitats, ended political censorship in public broadcasting and established a countrywide network of public museums, arts venues and theatres.

A lot of the fundamental rights that we take for granted today in areas such as divorce, access to contraceptives, female equality, status of children and the disabled were only won within the last few decades after long and hard fought campaigns by activists that always included Michael D. Sadly he was too often the lone member of the Oireachtas within their midst. 

Maria O'Malley with Michael D with an Anti-Apartheid poster from the late 1970s at a NUIG Reunion party

He portrays those traits of the Irish that have over the centuries earned us admiration across the world. Our respect for arts, culture, nature, folklore, heritage, sport, hard work, creativity, compassion, egalitarianism, spirituality and community is known in schools, theatres, concert arenas, churches, parliaments, village halls and stadia from Seoul to Berlin; our struggle for nationhood and republican principles has inspired generations of the downtrodden in the Americas, Australia, Africa and Asia; our traditional non-alignment stance has made us trusted by small nations and a popular choice as UN peacekeepers in areas of conflict. 

Michael D’s whole life personifies this positive image of Ireland. If he became president, he would help undo the harm caused at home and abroad by those few but prominent Irish who forgot their roots, were often anti-patriotic tax exiles and epitomised an arrogance and greed that damaged the nation. Michael’s campaign trips overseas were always in solidarity with those communities in need and not junkets or golf outings as was the case with some of his fellow parliamentarians.  His presidency would rekindle our national spirit, making us proud to be Irish, and being able once again to offer something of worth to the wider global community.