Are Segmental Parties Bad for Women? Rethinking the Challenges of Representation in Consociational Power-Sharing

Figures & data

Table 1. Voting intention and gendered breakdown, 2023.

Party	Total	Female respondents	Male respondents
Sinn Féin	29%	33%	25%
DUP	25%	17%	33%
Alliance	13%	15%	11%
UUP	11%	13%	9%
TUV	7%	5%	9%
SDLP	7%	10%	4%
Green Party	2%	2%	3%

Source: Lucid Talk (2023) ‘If an Assembly Election were held tomorrow, which political party would be your first preference?’

Table 2. Women-specific issues in manifestos of Northern Ireland’s major political parties.

Party	Women-Specific Issues in Party Manifestos
Alliance	Promoting gender considerations into careers promotion, mentoring scheme to assist women in the public and private sectors with the aim to increase the number of women in decision-making positions, developing and promoting policies in the workplace to better facilitate retention and progression for women, renewing efforts to tackle equal pay and implement regulations about public audits of the gender profile of pay by larger employers, calling for global ban on female genital mutilation, education for women and girls to be recognised as party of the U.K.’s international development spending
DUP	N/A
SDLP	Increasing free childcare provision, safeguarding existing funding for childcare through the Childcare Strategy and ensuring this is utilised, institutional abuse including direct mention of ‘mother and child homes’ and provision of victim-centred funding, Rights to protect breastfeeding mothers in public places, cross-departmental Domestic Violence Strategy
Sinn Féin	Commitment to give ‘full expression to the rights of all sections of the electorate’, regardless of gender
UUP	Affordable childcare

Table 3. Women-specific issues in motions tabled to the NI assembly (2011–2021).

Criteria	Mandate	Motion Title	Plenary Type; MLAs Party identity
Childcare	2011–2016	Childcare strategy	Private member’s motion (PMM); Independent
		Increasing free childcare	PMM; SDLP
		Legislative consent motion: childcare payments bill	Executive Motion; DUP/Sinn Féin
		Childcare in Northern Ireland (04/2014)	PMM; APNI
		Childcare in Northern Ireland (08/2014)	PMM; APNI
		Early education and care legislation (including financing of early childcare services) (2012)	PMM; APNI
		Early education and care legislation (2011)	PMM; APNI
		Early education and care bill	PIMM; APNI
	2016–2017	Good quality early years education, support and childcare	PMM; Green
		Early years development and pre-school childcare	PPM; SDLP
	2020–2021	Gender inclusive economy	PMM; Sinn Féin
		Impact of COVID-19 (including ‘gendered impact’)	PMM; SDLP
		Childcare	PMM; Sinn Féin
		Childcare strategy	PMM; DUP
		Childcare for all	PMM; People Before Profit
		Childcare on school grounds (19 October 2020)	Urgent Oral Question; APNI
		Childcare on school grounds (20 October 2020)	Urgent Oral Question; APNI
Domestic Violence	2011–2016	Justice bill: further consideration stage	Executive Motion; APNI
		Jobseeker’s allowance (Domestic Violence Amendment) regulations 2013	Executive Motion; DUP
		Jobseeker’s allowance (Domestic Violence Amendment) regulations 2012	Executive Motion; DUP
		Domestic Violence	PMM; DUP
	2016–2017	The draft Civil Legal Services regulations (including domestic violence)	Executive Motion; Independent
		Domestic Abuse, Rape and Sexual Crime	PMM; Sinn Féin
	2020–2021	Violence against women and girls strategy	PMM; SDLP
		Legislative consent motion: Domestic abuse bill	Executive Motion; APNI
		Violence against women	PMM; SDLP
Equal Pay and Equal Opportunity	N/A	N/A	N/A
Violence against Women/Sexual Violence	2011–2016	Non-molestation orders	PMM; Sinn Féin/DUP
	2016–2017	N/A	N/A
	2020–2021	Violence against women and girls strategy	PMM; Sinn Féin
		Strategy to combat violence against women and girls	Urgent Oral Question; SDLP
Reproductive Rights/Abortion	2011–2016	Abortion guidelines	Urgent Oral Question; APNI
	2016–2017	Campaign for abortion law reform in Northern Ireland	Executive Motion (based on public petition); Green Party
	2020–2021	(Response to) Cessation of EMA services in the Western Health and Social Care Trust	Urgent Oral Question; Sinn Féin
		Abortion Services	Urgent Oral Question; APNI
		(Response to) Severe Foetal Impairment Abortion (Amendment) Bill	PMM APNI
		Abortion Services	Urgent Oral Question; People Before Profit
		Abortion Services	Urgent Oral Question; Sinn Féin