Northern Ireland and South Africa both went through great periods of transition in the 1990s. South Africa saw its first democratic elections, while the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland in 1998 saw a formal end to years of protracted conflict.
In South Africa however, institutional support from the ANC and a strong women’s movement saw the establishment of legislation which affirmed abortion rights, whilst in Northern Ireland, the ‘grey area’ of legislation governing terminations remains unresolved. Drawing on gender and transitional justice literature, this paper aims to ask why South Africa managed to enact legislation at this key point in its history, but Northern Ireland did not.
This paper will examine three key areas which influenced the different outcomes of either context – the relative strength of the women’s movement in both areas, the international influence on both situations, and the role of human rights discourse.
