Kent Lecturer in Law Máireád Enright describes the Irish Government’s Symphysiotomy Redress Scheme as an “an exercise in bullying and opportunism” in an article published by the Irish Examiner today.
In the article entitled ‘State continues to inflict pain on symphysiotomy victims’, Ms Enright says: ‘The State has offered inadequate redress to symphysiotomy victims and these women continue to suffer human rights abuses.
‘This is not a decent redress scheme. It is an exercise in bullying and opportunism. It is a source of distress to a group of wounded, brave and persistent women who deserve much better.’
Symphysiotomy, a surgical procedure to widen the pelvis, was performed on at least 1,500 women in Ireland without their consent, in the mid to late 20th century.
In an earlier post on the Human Rights in Ireland blog, addressing the same redress scheme, Ms Enright described the 20-day time limit prescribed for women to make their applications as “unconscionable”.
In her post, entitled ‘What’s (Still) Wrong with the Symphysiotomy Redress Scheme’, Ms Enright wrote: ‘Women had 20 working days to apply. This is the shortest time limit in the history of any state redress scheme.’
Ms Enright wrote an opinion piece for the Irish Times in October arguing that symphysiotomy survivors deserved improved redress. She is also quoted in an article published in The Guardian entitled ‘Symphysiotomy – Ireland’s brutal alternative to caesareans‘ where she asks ‘if medical staff were negligent in using a procedure so inherently defective that any doctor should have realised it was wrong’.
Ms Enright has research interests in law and religion, feminism, and citizenship. For more information about her publications and research projects (including the establishment of an Irish Feminist Judgments Project), visit her staff profile page.