On Tuesday 9th February the Women’s ad hoc Policy Group held a seminar in Belfast to discuss a possible response to the consultation from the women’s sector.

The seminar heard from NIHRC Chief Commissioner Monica McWilliams, Laura McMahon from NI Women’s Aid Federation and Magaret Ward from the Womens Resource and Development Agency. The seminar recapped on the involvement of the women’s sector in the Bill of Rights process to date and explored how the sector could move forward in the debate.  

Feedback at the event suggested great disappointment in the NIO consultation document as the extent of the women’s sector involvement in the process so far was in no way reflected in the proposals. The group will be putting their submission forward shortly documenting again the gender specific rights and also the general socio-economic protections they would like to see in the final Bill.