Debate contribution: Victims and Witnesses of Crime Bill: Second Stage
Debate contribution by Ms Emma Sheerin on .
- MLA
- Ms Emma Sheerin
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 30 June 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Executive Committee Business
- Heading
- Victims and Witnesses of Crime Bill: Second Stage
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5653491
Read the official Assembly record
Text
No, I will not give way. You have rambled on for long enough in this place. When it comes to the early clauses of the Bill, I, like others, put on the record our appreciation of the work of Geraldine Hanna and our support for the intent of Part 1 of the Bill, which puts the role that she has been carrying out impeccably thus far onto a statutory footing in supporting victims and witnesses of crime. As others have remarked, what she has been doing is enlightening and provides a real voice for victims here. We all support that. On Part 2, as we move through the clauses, we are in support of victims of hate crime being entitled to and qualified for special measures. Given what we have seen unfold across the North in recent weeks, it is important that we acknowledge that they are people with particular vulnerabilities who are particularly sensitive and, with that in mind, consider our language. As a party, we support looking at the EU victims directive, which sets out some qualifications when it comes to the people who would be entitled to that support. Moving on to the specific protections for those who have been the victim of sexual abuse and assault, we can all cast our minds back to the case that led to the Gillen review, when we saw so much victim blaming and rape culture pervading the narrative following that court case because of how the victim was treated. In short, we support the Bill at Second Stage and look forward to working with other members of the Committee to watch it progress through the House.
277 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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