Lecturer in Law Máiréad Enright says symphysiotomy survivors deserve improved redress in an opinion piece published by the Irish Times yesterday.
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. Ms Enright says the women affected have a right to reparations and calls on the Minister for Justice to amend the existing scheme of redress to give the women what they are due.
In the article entitled Symphysiotomy survivors deserve improved redress Ms Enright comments: ‘In July, the Minister for Justice admitted before the UN Human Rights Committee that symphysiotomies were often performed without women’s consent. The committee, in turn, affirmed symphysiotomy as practised in Ireland from the 1940s to the 1980s could be considered a violation of article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which prohibits cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Accordingly, under article 2.3 of the ICCPR, these women have a right to an effective remedy.
‘This right has two prongs. First, survivors are entitled to an independent and impartial investigation into the practice of symphysiotomy in Ireland, capable of determining who should be held responsible for these abusive operations.
‘Second, the women have a right to reparations, which must be proportionate to the violence done to them. Reparations ought to be satisfactory to the majority of survivors. They can also include a guarantee of non-repetition and appropriate law reform: for example, the Irish State might ensure that pregnant women will never again subjected to invasive medical treatment against their will.
‘So far, the Government has ignored these rights. The Walsh report on the practice of symphysiotomy makes no findings of responsibility. The ex gratia symphysiotomy redress scheme proposed in outline by Judge Yvonne Murphy is patently inadequate. It cannot meet the proportionality requirements of article 2.3. The €50,000 or €100,000 sums available to most women in the scheme are far lower than would be paid in damages in a successful medical negligence suit.’
Ms Enright was subsequently interviewed on Al Jazeera on 18 October in a special news report highlighting the survivors fight for justice. Ms Enright explained that victims were anxious to seek a prompt, independent judicial enquiry along with ‘adequate reparations’.
Earlier this year, Ms Enright was quoted in article entitled A misogynist state published by the Irish Examiner after a United Nations hearing into Ireland’s observance of human rights. The hearing was held in July to examine the cases of the survivors of symphyiotomy.
Ms Enright has research interests in law and religion, feminism, and citizenship. For more information about Ms Enright’s publications, visit her staff profile page.