IWD event hears about the 'unmet needs for women' in health, homelessness and work
Esther N McCarthy with panelists Deborah Somorin, Annmarie O'Connor and Julie Jay. Picture: Clare Keogh
Education access, women’s healthcare and sexism in the comedy industry were the topics being discussed on Wednesday morning at the Irish Examiner’s International Women’s Day breakfast event in association with PepsiCo.
Social entrepreneur and author Deborah Somorin, Irish Examiner Fashion editor and Parkinson's advocate, Annmarie O'Connor, and comedian and Irish Examiner columnist Julie Jay spoke with Lifestyle Editor Esther N McCarthy about the challenges they face around equity, which is the IWD theme for 2023.
Somorin, who was homeless at 13 and pregnant at 14, spoke about the support she had to receive an education while she was a single parent.
“I survived these things because I met the right people at the right time,” she told guests at The Glasshouse in the Montenotte Hotel. She said a social worker encouraged her to attend school while she was in care. She said it could be “really embarrassing” going to school when she was living in hostels and she felt “powerless” when in care.
“The one thing I did feel in control of was my education,” she said, adding she was inspired to seek secure employment to give her son a better future. “Did I want my son to live a life that was really disadvantaged or do I want to try and give him as much of a normal childhood as I could? The route for me to do that was a straight secure job.”
Somorin said children in care face a housing issue when they reach adulthood and she has met single parents who are studying while in emergency accommodation.
“They're not able to afford accommodation when they turn 18 that they can move into so kids with black bin bags are literally being dropped off at homeless shelters, some of them on their 18th birthday,” she said. “I've met people who are doing engineering degrees or living in homeless accommodations with their babies.”
Somorin founded Empower the Family and is working to provide social housing. “We’ve been working on it for a number of years. We got three-quarters of a million euro of pro bono support.”
Parkinson’s advocate O’Connor spoke about living with her early-onset diagnosis and shared some startling facts about research into women’s healthcare.
“Parkinson's disease, there's a lot that's so unknown about it, but I thought it was an elderly man's disease. I never thought it was something that would happen to a woman in her 40s But I found through my research how wrong I was,” she said.
“Women report different symptoms to men. Historically, when medical research has been done in clinical trials, men have always been preferred subjects over women because women were too ‘complicated’ with our hormones and pregnancy and all that kind of stuff.
“In medical books, women are always seen as smaller versions of men, not different on a cellular level, which we are. Women report different symptoms and increase in side effects and daily changes in their symptoms due to our hormones.”
After sharing her story in Irish Examiner’s Weekend magazine, O’Connor said she heard from women who think they have Parkinson’s too but who have obstacles that prevent them from being diagnosed.
“I received so many emails from women who either have symptoms and suspected it was Parkinson's but didn't go to their GP because they didn't have the time, because they have primary caregiver responsibilities, and women who don't have the money [to seek a diagnosis] because they don't financially have the €200 to go see a consultant on a referral.”
She said more research needs to be done on female patients and women need more support to get involved in those.
“We need to consider the barriers when it comes to research. What prevents women from taking part in these things? And namely, it's the time loss and due to caregiving responsibilities.
“The more I read the more I think that there's there's such a gap, there definitely are unmet needs for women.”
Comedian Jay said she was “blown away” by her fellow panelists. “It’s an honour to be sitting beside you,” she said.
Jay spoke about the sexism she still encounters in the comedy circuit, which is traditionally a male-dominated area, and the support she receives from her husband, fellow comedian Fred Cooke.
“It's definitely gotten a lot better but when I started, the level of sexism was just off the charts. I think it's certainly still there but it’s a bit more insidious now.”
She said she was often the “token female” as the only women to be in a lineup of comics but since she became a mother she said she feels “sexism is rearing its ugly head” once more.
“Since I had Ted, so many people will get in touch with me — actually not even in touch with me, a lot of people get in touch with Fred asking if I want to support Fred. This has happened quite a bit recently. For some reason, and this really annoys me, they will instantly say ‘I don’t know if you will be able to do it because of childcare’. What about Fred and the childcare?”
Jay added she is often asked in interviews how she ‘manages’ comedy and motherhood but said her husband is never asked that question. She said Cooke has realised how differently they are treated and is extremely supportive.
“Sometimes, there's almost this lack of awareness and when you bring the awareness to people, then they come to it with so much more compassion.”
The event also heard from Kathriona Whelton, Co-Chair of PepsiCo Women’s Inclusion Network, who spoke about the inclusive culture at PepsiCo and why it is important to encourage diversity both in the workplace and in society. She said in her personal life she wants her sons to be “and advocate of women and supporters of women”.
“I want them to be supportive of women, whatever way they come into their lives, be it at home or at work, that they know that parity is really good for decision making."
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