Debate contribution: Ending Violence Against Women and Girls
Debate contribution by Ms Michelle O'Neill on .
- MLA
- Ms Michelle O'Neill
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 21 September 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Ending Violence Against Women and Girls
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5742045
Read the official Assembly record
Text
The Member and I agree about RSE and what is needed in our schools. We have to get it right. It is where pupils' minds are open to taking on board what can be the complex area of understanding what a healthy relationship looks like. All Departments are represented on the cross-departmental body, and that is part of the conversation. The part that we play in that is through programmes such as Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes. We hope that those programmes are getting through. Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes is about raising awareness. It is an information campaign that was launched in partnership with Ulster University. The campaign is about promoting an understanding of the fact that coercive control is abuse, which, unfortunately, is not always recognised in today's world, particularly by young women. It is about helping them, where they see it, to recognise coercive control and to understand the need to get themselves away from such a situation. Our toolkit is about all of that. It is about asking everybody to reflect on their relationships. I hope that, for our part, to deal with coercive control in our society, the campaign builds on the significant work that has been done over the past number of years. We had a pilot that worked with front-line professionals, and that work is continuing. It is about awareness raising and training resources, and planning is under way for the next training phase, which is on work to get support. Hopefully, that shows that there is a real willingness to get to the root of the problem.
265 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.03 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.77).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- Subject area: Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.04 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.77 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.68 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.32 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 16:26 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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