On International Women's Day (March 8), Irish voters will decide whether to amend their constitution to delete a provision that recognizes women's "life within the home." Adopted in 1937, the "woman in the home" clause has been criticized for entrenching traditional gender stereotypes. Will voters choose to replace it with a gender-neutral clause that values care within the family instead? And what difference does the constitution's language about women, care, and families make to law and public policy? Professor Laura Cahillane joins Democracy's Future from Ireland to discuss.
Check out the Irish Electoral Commission's information website for voters about the referendum.
Read Professor Cahillane's op-ed, "The ‘women in the home’ provision is hardly a suitable sentiment for a modern Constitution."
Irish Citizens' Assembly Report on Gender Equality 2021
Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) Committee Report on Gender Equality 2022