SURVEY: 73 Per Cent of Irish Women Feel They Are Not Treated Equally to Men

Almost three-quarters of Irish women feel they are not treated equally to men. The statistic is a damning indictment on modern Ireland, with women stating that they do not feel equal to their male counterparts with regard to employment opportunities, wages and political representation. The study of over 9,000 Irish women was part of a bank of data titled A Slice of Ireland, gleaned from surveys carried out across Her.ie, JOE.ie, HerFamily.ie and SportsJOE.ie A whopping 73 per cent of women said they do not feel they are treated equally to their male counterparts. When this question was broken down further, educational opportunities emerged as the only area in which women do feel equal – with 79 per cent agreeing that women have the same scope in this arena. Post studies, the picture is far bleaker. Only 18 per cent of women believe they have equal political representation to men. The workplace was a major bone of contention also, with only 38 per cent of women believing they have the same employment opportunities and less than a third of women (30 per cent) of the opinion that they are treated equally with regard to wages. The views on equality are somewhat at odds with the views on feminism, with only 43 per cent of women identifying themselves as a feminist. When pressed on feminism, respondents cited the words they most associate with feminism to be: Equality, Strong, Rights, Independent, Powerful and Opinionated.   *A Slice of Ireland is a bank of data gleaned by carrying our surveys on all four Maximum Media websites (Her.ie, JOE.ie, HerFamily.ie and SportsJOE.ie during April. Further data from the survey will be published over the coming days on Her.ie.