Orla O'Connor: Poor abortion services in rural Ireland are failing women

To achieve vibrant and sustainable rural communities we must take into account the voices and experiences of women in all their diversity in order to make them places where people are happy to live and work, writes Orla O'Connor

Supporters celebrate at Dublin Castle following the referendum result on the 8th amendment. Despite the constitutional change, rural women remain at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to medical care.

As 2021 draws to a close, women across Ireland will be looking back at a year that was full of challenges and uncertainties. 

We know that the Covid-19 crisis has hit women particularly hard and has increased gender inequalities. For women in rural communities, inequalities faced are often compounded by isolation and by systemic barriers such as lack of access to universal services, transport, and under-representation in decision-making spaces.