根据爱尔兰宪法，妇女应该待在家里。但是选民将在周五国际妇女节决定是否修改这部有87年历史的宪法，删除政府认为过时和性别歧视的段落。

将举行两次公民投票，删除关于妇女家务责任的提法和扩大家庭的定义。

第一次投票涉及宪法中承诺保护家庭作为社会主要单位的部分。选民们被要求删除将婚姻作为“家庭建立的基础”的提法，代之以一个条款，即家庭可以建立在“婚姻或其他持久关系”的基础上。如果获得通过，这将是爱尔兰宪法的第39条修正案。

第二项变化是提议的第40修正案，该修正案将删除妇女在家庭中作为国家主要支持的角色，并删除“母亲不得因经济需要而被迫从事劳动而忽视其在家庭中的职责”的声明。

它将增加一项条款，称国家将努力支持“家庭成员相互提供照顾”。

9小时前3点40分，爱尔兰开始就更新国家宪法进行公投 删除语言a的机构 关于“家庭中的女性”和“家庭构成”，首相称这些“非常过时，非常性别歧视”。

总理利奥·瓦拉德卡(Leo Varadkar)在一年前的国际妇女节宣布，政府将举行全民公投，以确保性别平等，并从宪法中删除歧视性语言。

爱尔兰第一位少数民族领袖瓦拉德卡说，新的投票是为了消除“非常过时的语言”，承认现代家庭生活的现实。瓦拉德卡是一名同性伴侣，但没有结婚。

爱尔兰的社会转型体现在一系列的宪法改革上。爱尔兰选民在1995年的公投中使离婚合法化，在2015年的投票中支持同性婚姻，并在2018年废除了堕胎禁令。

民意调查显示，两项投票都支持“赞成”，但许多选民仍未做出决定，投票率可能很低。

爱尔兰的主要政党都支持这些改革，包括中间派政府联盟伙伴共和党和统一党，以及最大的反对党新芬党。

许多女性支持这一改变。来自爱尔兰中部米斯郡的特蕾西·卡罗尔(Tracy Carroll)全职照顾自己的两个孩子，她说，长期以来，女性一直被告知“我们在社会中的位置是在家里，照顾我们的孩子和丈夫。”

她告诉天空新闻:“我们已经改变了，但宪法并没有改变。”

反对者表示，修改的措辞考虑不周，可能会产生意想不到的后果。法律慈善机构免费法律咨询中心(Free Legal Advice Centers)表示担心，对护理部分的修改包含了“有害的刻板印象，比如提供护理……是无薪家庭成员的私人责任，没有任何国家支持的保证。”

一些残疾人权利运动人士认为，对残疾人护理的重视将他们视为一种负担，而不是作为个人享有应得到国家保障的权利。

Polling stations are open until 10 p.m. on Friday. Ballot counting starts at 9 a.m. on Saturday, with results likely to be known Saturday afternoon or evening.

The referendum comes as other votes, protests and marches for International Women's Day take place around the world. Officially recognized by the United Nations in 1977, International Women's Day is a national holiday in about 20 countries, including Russia, Ukraine and Afghanistan.

France inscribed the guaranteed right to abortion in its constitution on Friday, a powerful message of support for women's rights — making it the first country to explicitly guarantee abortion rights in its national charter.

The measure was overwhelmingly approved by French lawmakers earlier this week, and Friday's ceremony means it can now enter into force.

In Italy, where the country's first female prime minister is in power, thousands of people marched in Rome to protest gender-based violence. The issue grabbed public attention after the particularly gruesome murder of a young woman, as well as data showing more than half of the 120 women murdered in Italy last year were killed by their current or former partners.

At street rallies in Seoul, participants had an eye on next month's parliamentary elections in South Korea and expressed hope that parties would prioritize gender equality.

In Russia, where the United Nations says human rights have deteriorated since the military's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, President Vladimir Putin saluted Russian women fighting in the war and those waiting at home for their loved ones who had been deployed.

Women in Afghanistan staged rare protests against harsh Taliban restrictions. The country's rulers have banned girls and women from education above Grade 6 and from most jobs. Females are also barred from public spaces like parks. A group of women gathered indoors in Kabul, holding up signs to hide their faces, and chanted, "No to Gender Apartheid" and "Afghanistan is Hell for Women." 

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