“It is much easier to have conversations about porn with your kids if you’ve already had open and honest conversations about sex with them.” A study led by Dr Kate Dawson, of the School of Psychology in NUI Galway found that porn use amongst teenage boys, “is associated with sexual aggression over time ONLY when […]
3 years ago
Last week my 9-year-old asked me the dreaded words, “Mummy, is Santa real?” This is the moment that every parent dreads. The moment we have to pull back the curtain of lies we carefully wove over years of hidden presents, half-eaten carrots and biscuit crumbs. It’s the moment of truth. These conversations have rarely gone […]
4 years ago
When we were asking around about who comes to mind as a happy person, for our series ‘Joy in January’, Tara Flynn’s name kept coming up. People associate her smiley self with fun – so we spoke with Tara about happiness, Irishness and how to be joyful. Asked to describe herself, Tara Flynn offers up […]
6 years ago
Between dark mornings, diets and a pay day that seems like it’s never going to come, January can be bleak. So, to brighten up your new year we’re looking at ways to find joy every day… Pauline Rohdich was a Garda, a flight attendant and a business woman before she settled on her current career as a […]
6 years ago
Between dark mornings, diets and a pay day that seems like it’s never going to come, January can be bleak. So, to brighten up your new year we’re looking at ways to find joy every day… When I was struggling to articulate what to write as an occupation for my business card, my dear friend suggested I […]
6 years ago
“Breaking years-long habits is not easy work, which is maybe why we leap upon the quick-fix solutions offered by something like a detox tea” Christmas Day wasn’t even over when I saw the first of the ‘inspirational’ New Year adverts for weight loss clinics and “Detox Jan” articles promoting the idea that with just a […]
6 years ago
This week, Irish people’s kindness turned my offer to help two women into helping 5o women. Christmas is an especially difficult time of year for lone parent families living in poverty. Many rely on charities to provide Santa gifts and come Christmas morning there is often no present under the tree for them. Lone parent […]
6 years ago
Denise Christie didn’t set out to be a fertility coach. In fact, during her years of working as a busy legal executive, Denise would have scoffed at the thoughts of using aromatherapy as a treatment for anything. However, it was Denise’s own experiences of multiple miscarriages that led her to a holistic path. Denise describes […]
6 years ago
“It actually felt more liberating the more I used it.” Recently, there was outrage when ads for gyneacologist Dr Jen Gunter’s book The Vagina Bible were removed by Twitter for containing “inappropriate content” – namely the word vagina. Twitter is not alone in being uncomfortable with the word, many of us were taught to use euphemisms […]
6 years ago
“This surgery will ensure that my kids grow up with me in their lives.” In 2018, lone parent Claire Malone was awarded the Wexford Person of the Year award for her extraordinary community work. Now, she is the one who needs urgent help. Mum of three Claire is currently in hospital trying to organise funds […]
6 years ago
Why do Irish women find it so hard to talk about it?
6 years ago
Lone parents have been taking to social media to express their anger about the new National Childcare Scheme. It has been estimated that it will leave some lone parents more than €80 worse off every week. Louise Bayliss, spokesperson for S.P.A.R.K said that while families on a combined income of €90,000 a year will be roughly […]
7 years ago
The only sure thing about parenting is how unpredictable it is. While it’s impossible to know what kind of person your child will be, sometimes their actions or thoughts can reveal personality traits. Some parents might think their child could be LGBTQ+ but are unsure how to approach the subject with their child. Other parents […]
7 years ago
Kate Dawson, a NUI Galway doctoral researcher, is helping to develop a programme that promotes porn literacy among Irish teenagers. Kate and her team are hoping to change the way Irish people talk about sex with Kate chatting to HerFamily about how porn literacy can help improve sex education in schools. “One of the main concerns about […]
7 years ago
A recent episode of Prime Time on RTÉ spurned dozens of articles, a petition signed by over 5,000 people and a call to boycott the broadcaster. Much of the concern hinged on the way the show framed the issues of trans rights in Ireland. The Chair of the Transgender Equality Network of Ireland (TENI) Sara Phillips, who was also a guest […]
7 years ago
Watching the Neflix series YOU, with my teenage daughter provided a conversation starter about domestic abuse and unhealthy relationships. For those who haven’t seen it, Penn Badgley plays Joe, a man who develops an obsession with poetry student Beck, played by Elizabeth Lail. Joe stalks Beck via social media, finding out everything he can about […]
7 years ago
Many Irish women are familiar with a device known as Transvaginal Mesh, used to treat organ prolapse and urinary incontinence. In many cases, this device was implanted as a measure to treat the above issues which are extremely common after childbirth but for many women, this impacted severely on their quality of life. Following protests, Minister […]
7 years ago
A new cross-organisational group is campaigning to keep the new National Maternity Hospital in state ownership. Current plans are for the National Maternity Hospital to be owned and run by a private Catholic corporation, owned by the Sisters of Charity. The religious order previously ran a Magdalene laundry and operated five residential schools. The Ryan report revealed […]
7 years ago
Here at Her Family, we think women’s knowledge and expertise could help to solve some of the problems facing modern Ireland. For the next few weeks, we’ll be asking the women of Ireland what they think about the most pressing issues facing the country right now. The housing crisis has caused rents to skyrocket – […]
7 years ago
Last week, the Minister for Children, Katherine Zappone, announced a “programme of action to respect the memory and dignity of children who died in Tuam Mother and Baby home.” The course of action involves a full exhumation and a forensic examination of the remains. Kevin Higgins, legal advisor to the Tuam Home Survivor’s Network has […]
7 years ago
Shocking. A position paper released by Inclusion Ireland has reported that children as young as five are being forcibly restrained by adult staff and left unsupervised in unsafe rooms in Irish schools. The paper focuses on 14 case studies of children with disabilities who attend both mainstream and special Irish schools. These children have all experienced […]
7 years ago
To find out how women in Ireland feel about the Pope’s visit to Ireland, I reached out to activists around the country. With 500,000 tickets issued, I didn’t anticipate difficulty asking people to chat about the Papal visit but it was significantly harder than expected. Below are excerpts from the interviews I conducted with women […]
7 years ago
‘She should’ve kept her legs shut’, ‘why have so many children if you can’t look after them?’, ‘sponging off the state because she couldn’t control herself’… The above are comments I’ve read or heard on the radio in response to Margaret Cash, a homeless mother of seven children. Recently, photos were put on social media […]
7 years ago
A public hearing was held on Monday.
7 years ago
In what was probably the least romantic wedding of 2014, Emma* and her partner Paddy* booked their wedding around the tax year. “We booked in to sign the forms in December 2014 so that we could get in before the end of the financial year. That way we didn’t have to wait until January 2016 […]
8 years ago
The death of homeless mother Danielle Carroll in Leixlip in 2017 was a defining moment for Dublin poet Ingrid Casey. “I knew when Danielle Carroll died that I could do something and that I had to. I felt furious because it was so needless, it was due to a lack of political will. When I was […]
8 years ago
When Karen O’Reilly returned to Ireland, she expected she would easily find work that would fit around her family life. “I thought finding a flexible role would be easy, until I started looking in earnest and realised that there were very few flexible roles available and no service that could help me find one.” And […]
8 years ago
Half of the Irish teenage girl population have difficulty affording sanitary items and 61 percent are embarrassed by their periods. Plan International Ireland surveyed girls aged between 12-19 for a recent study. Some of the girls said that their school did not teach them anything about periods at all and 59 percent of the girls surveyed […]
8 years ago
The grass-roots movement to repeal the 8th mobilised thousands of people all over the country, the majority of whom had no previous experience in activism. Many of these people were women who similarly turned up to vote in numbers never seen before. It’s been estimated that on an average, there were between five to seven […]
8 years ago
The Association to Improve Maternity Services in Ireland (AIMSI) has collected data and information about women’s experiences within the Irish maternity system. Dr Krysia Lynch, chair of AIMS Ireland explains: “What’s not generally known is that the 8th affects every pregnancy. The minute you become pregnant you don’t get to make decisions about your own healthcare […]
8 years ago
The Facebook page In Her Shoes recently shared a story of a woman who said that during her pregnancy of much-wanted twins, her life was endangered by the 8th amendment. “All was going well and my 16 week scan showed two healthy babies. Two weeks later I had some pains and heavy discharge. I went […]
8 years ago
Taryn plans to return on Saturday.
8 years ago
This is so tough – but important – to read.
8 years ago
35 years of forcing women to travel.
8 years ago
Hannah* was 14 when she was raped by her boyfriend. After the rape, she became extremely depressed. Hannah tried to take her life and after that, her family kept her “on constant lockdown”. A few months later, Hannah’s period had not arrived and her mother took her to the hospital. “2 days before my 15th […]
8 years ago
Doctor, award-winning poet and now editor, Kathy D’Arcy believes that stories have the power to change hearts and minds. Inspired by her grandmother who had ambitions to study and learn but never had the chance as a mother of 16 children, Kathy says she wants an Ireland “where young women can dream of fulfilling their […]
8 years ago
Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger says that secondary school students aren’t receiving sex education and when they are provided with same, it’s inadequate and biased information. In an effort to get a broad view of exactly what students are being taught, Deputy Coppinger asked students to get in touch with her and share their experiences. Students […]
8 years ago
A powerful new short film has been released that highlights the impact of the 8th amendment. The makers of the film used the real-life stories and testimonies of women whose lives were changed and in one case a life that was ended by the controversial amendment. The filmmakers say extensive research was carried out to […]
8 years ago
Giving birth alone…
8 years ago
Beware the risen women.
8 years ago
A particularly unsettling gender divide.
8 years ago
How completely heartbreaking.
8 years ago
Warning: the content of this piece may prove distressing to some readers. Last week, anti-choice organisations targeted a number of locations in Dublin. Witnesses said the protesters wore what looked like body cameras and held up large banners containing graphic imagery. Survivors of rape, mothers and women who have had miscarriages have since spoken of their […]
8 years ago
*This piece contains details which may prove upsetting to some readers. A new platform has been created for Irish women to share their stories of how the 8th amendment has affected them. In Her Shoes has become incredibly successful almost overnight with more than 23,000 Facebook followers at the time of publishing. The creator of […]
8 years ago
Displaced women and girls are in danger of sexual violence, psychological trauma and violence. An estimated 32 million women and girls are displaced when their homelands are war-torn or unsafe. Many of these women are still on the move. They have significantly greater health challenges, simply because they are women and girls. Médecins Sans Frontières […]
8 years ago
The viewpoint we just don’t hear often enough.
8 years ago
ActionAid Ireland estimates that up to 2,639 girls living in Ireland today are at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM). The cultural practice involves removing all or part of a girl’s external genitalia and is usually performed on girls aged between four and ten. According to WHO, this has happened to more than 200 million girls […]
8 years ago
The countdown to the repeal referendum is on, there are four hectic months ahead and the repeal campaign needs every pro-choice person in Ireland working together. For anyone unsure of how to get involved, we have compiled a list of different ways that you can help to lend your voice and win the repeal referendum […]
8 years ago
The #MeToo and #TimesUp movement have been drivers of social media-led conversations in the modern age, with victims sharing experiences of sexual harassment. #MeToo spiralled in October 2017 after a number of actresses came forward with sexual misconduct allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein and #TimesUp was the movement founded in response to this, with women […]
8 years ago
After several years of trying to conceive, Kiera Lambe and her husband were delighted to find out that she was pregnant. However, at 12 weeks, Kiera started bleeding which was the beginning of a nightmare experience for her and her family. Having experienced bleeding during the pregnancy of her older child, Kiera says she wasn’t […]
8 years ago