Feature - Talks Across the Border: How Brexit Has Affected Women in the EU

Regardless of whether you voted to leave or to remain in the EU, it was staggering to witness how Brexit ricocheted throughout the rest of Britain’s domestic and foreign policy. I was 15 when the result of the referendum was announced. I would never know a career within the EU, therefore I suppose I’ll never fully comprehend how much we gave up. What will happen to the working-class students who have spent five years learning a language only to find that they can’t afford to immerse themselves in the culture like their wealthier counterparts can? Hard and soft borders, the Erasmus programme, and a myriad of other political-economic advantages that were previously taken for granted were now on the line.

As most political discourses go, the particular effect of Brexit on women has been overlooked in mainstream media. As pointed out by Julie MacLeavy, the austerity measures of Ireland, Greece, and Portugal mostly resulted in deregulation of the workforce, whereas British austerity measures typically undermine the public sector, including public sector jobs and social security, both of which are of particular importance to women. The age-old problem of paid work overlapping while facing the brunt of unpaid caring responsibilities places women at an economic disadvantage as they can expect to suffer from lower pay in public sector work, more unstable zero-hour contracts, and a weaker economic safety net.

Instinctively, Britain is at the centre of Brexit and its fallout. But the withdrawal from the EU was always a two-way street. For that reason, people within the EU have their own fears regarding the consequences of Brexit, particularly among young people who are just entering the labour market. The European Commission has set aside billions of euros in the Brexit Adjustment Reserve to compensate for the economic damage that Brexit has caused for the member states, the most of which going to the Republic of Ireland.

For that reason, I have spoken to young women from both the UK and the EU member states to discuss their feelings around Brexit and what it means to them.

Chatting with Vicky (22) about her career path as a music journalist and language enthusiast highlighted several of the problems Brexit has brought about. Particularly as a woman from Northern Ireland, the political tensions that have been rehashed over the past five years are especially relevant to her:

It’s more directly affected my degree and the year abroad [...] in terms of what I want to do afterwards, music journalism, it has a big effect. Touring isn’t necessarily as easy for bands that want to come to the UK and Europe. I think there is a risk of less touring which would have an impact on what I do.

[...] I’ve had to change quite a lot already, like my literal nationality. I can be British or Irish. Since I’ve come to France, I haven’t needed to get a student visa because I’ve been able to say that I’m Irish. I’m in quite a lucky position because there aren’t a lot of hoops to jump through because I was born on the island of Ireland. It’s definitely strange to have changed that so rapidly.

With the turbulent history between Britain and the Republic of Ireland, the economic and political implications of Brexit sparked both conflict and anxiety. Although there is the advantage of identifying as Irish in order to move more freely around the EU, the decision of nationality can weigh heavily on the people of Northern Ireland.

Nationality is such a divisive thing in Northern Ireland, there are people who wouldn’t be willing to give up their Britishness for ease of travel. [...] It wasn’t a big deal for me but for others it comes at a big cost.

Last summer, echoes of the past reverberated throughout Northern Ireland when four days of rioting ensued throughout Belfast. Many were concerned that the same political and sectarian conflicts from the previous generation would reincarnate in Northern Ireland’s youth.

The government made it clear that they can’t give Northern Ireland a different deal to the rest of the UK. It needs to be different in Northern Ireland. The stakes are higher; we are in a very particular situation that the rest of the country is not and doesn’t necessarily understand.

Within the EU, the level of concern varied between those who planned to visit the UK as an erasmus student and those who were content in their own nation states. Speaking with Sara (20) she expressed that her life in Spain was largely unaffected.

That being said, I have a lot of friends who are now worrying about whether they’ll be able to go to England at all. The number of positions for erasmus students in the UK has dropped significantly. A lot are opting to go to Ireland instead because obviously Ireland is still in the EU but it’s changed a lot of people’s plans.

Sara was part of the group throughout all of the EU and Britain that acknowledged that Brexit could happen in 2016, but never thought that it would actually go through. Therefore, the attitudes of many in Spain have shifted in response to the rhetoric of the Leave campaign.

Particularly older people here have taken it as a rejection. Among my parents, aunts and uncles, older relatives and such, many have thought ‘well if you don’t want anything to do with us, we don’t want anything to do with you’! I think particularly older people take the result of the referendum more personally than younger people.

Spain is one of the countries most exposed to the negative consequences of Brexit, estimated to lose about €307 million per year due to the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. Although the women I spoke to were all too aware of the obvious repercussions of Brexit, the mentality behind it is what bothered Elena (20) the most. The issues surrounding Brexit are not simply economic, but also sentimental as cultural exchange has been made practically and emotionally harder to do:

To me, England and the English language was always something I loved. I saw myself working and living there but this has really made things difficult for me. I love the culture, the literature, and the general ambience of the place. I think that the English language is also easier to learn than others.

After so many years of learning about Anglophone culture, many in Europe have developed their own enthusiasm and sense of belonging to Britain as a result, and the result of the referendum is a huge obstacle to that belonging.

It is easy to see how British women have been affected by Brexit in the same vein as any worker or business-owner. But Brexit has inflicted its own set of problems on the EU and not just in a purely economic way. Brexit has called into question the harmony, the acceptance of others, and, at worst, the political stability of both itself and the way that outsiders to the UK will see it. We can hope to move forward in the future and reforge the relationships we previously had with the EU member states but can we move past the years that campaigned for separation and rejection of our neighbours?