Overwhelming No-No vote in the referendums does not mean social change has stalled
Many are disappointed that Article 41.2 remains and diverse families did not get constitutional protection. But overwhelming No-No vote in referendums does not mean social change has stalledPeople from the Equality Not Care group, who campaigned for a No vote. The emergence of a strong disability justice movement became very clear during the referendum campaigns. Photograph: Damien Storan/PA Wire, the bitter disappointment that explicitly sexist text remains in Article 41.
Referendums are where values, law and politics collide, where we attempt to capture political aims and values in legal terminology. In this instance, there was a huge dissonance between the values and aspirations that motivated the desire for constitutional change to begin with and the unclear and weak wordings chosen to be presented to the people.
The outcomes of the referendums were, in some part, an expression of the unmet demand for clear rights-based reforms and for enforceable social rights that impose meaningful obligations on the State. What we have learned from the referendums can be used as the starting point for creating law reform programmes that aim to achieve substantive change for families, carers and people with disabilities.
What is very different from the failure of the first divorce referendum is the emergence of a strong disability justice movement, which became evident during the referendum campaigns. This is cause for optimism and celebration. The voices of the disability activists must be at the centre of work to devise and deliver a disability reform programme.
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