Debate contribution: Strategic Framework to End Violence against Women and Girls: Implementation
Debate contribution by Ms Sorcha Eastwood on .
- MLA
- Ms Sorcha Eastwood
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 26 February 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Strategic Framework to End Violence against Women and Girls: Implementation
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4230659
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I was going to say that I welcome the opportunity to discuss this issue, but I really do not. The Member for Mid Ulster Linda Dillon spoke so incredibly and said out loud in this debate in this Chamber what matters to me and to the people across the North who are listening. She said out loud that the vast majority of people who suffer this absolutely heinous abuse and, in some cases, death, do so at the hands of somebody whom they know. Looking across the Chamber, I note that we have all said worthy things and that everyone has spoken amazingly. However, I want to make this real, and I want to make this impactful. I could point at every woman in the Chamber right now and remember things that have been said about them in the media. There was a huge outcry at the time; absolutely nothing was done after it. We find ourselves in a truly shameful position here in Northern Ireland. Violence against women and girls is a systemic and ingrained issue, and one theme that I find throughout the comments is that vow of silence. We still live in an incredibly conservative culture in Northern Ireland. I remember, years ago in one of my old jobs, having a talk about training. There were 20 people in the room, and someone said that one in whatever figure was going to be an abuser. Everyone looked around the room to find the abuser, and guess what? They do not come with "Abuser" written across their head, do they? No, they are people whom we love. They are people whom we respect. They are people whom society respects. The one thing that I want people to take away from the debate today is that nobody is beyond reproach in this regard. If someone makes a disclosure, that must be taken seriously, because these people live amongst us. Improving the situation that our girls and women face will take a whole-society approach, as everyone has outlined. The violence that we see is not caused by one single factor but is endemic and has existed for centuries. For context, divorce was legalised in the Republic of Ireland only in 1996, following the referendum the year before. Marital rape was defined as an offence in the UK only after the case of R v R in 1991. This lag in our laws leaves a long tail of societal acceptance, minimising and death in its wake, and I commend the work of my party leader and current Justice Minister, Naomi Long, and the strides that she has made. The grim reality is that there is absolutely no point in having that life-saving legislation unless every person in society recognises the role that they have to play. Would it surprise you to know that the remnants of the patriarchy, violence against women and girls and misogyny are strewn throughout the strata of our life? The echoes, as well as the overt and deafening shouts of misogyny, are ringing around the public square. Shall we prosecute the case of violence against women and girls in the media and in the public square? Let me give you some examples of headlines: "Jealous man kills wife due to failing business"; "Strange case of domestic murder"; and "Did living in the shadow of his successful wife cause her death?" In a world where the president of the United States of America once said that he wanted to grab women by the — can we be shocked when people like Andrew Tate are held up by some in the media or seen as role models or heroes? I am sorry, but I am done with women being the butt of the joke. We can have laws and debates, but, unless every person, including men in the Chamber, their sons and everyone else whom they know stands up for us, there is absolutely no point. Finance and budgeting are crucial, and a number of Members raised them. I believe strongly that we lag behind in some areas in our society because women have not been in the room.
We intend to be in every room, and we will end violence against women and girls.
706 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: 0.14 (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 (0.61).
- The text criticises or condemns the framing or division (0.55).
- Subject area: Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups.
- 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 | 0.40 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.11 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.03 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.17 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.16 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.61 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.14 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.43 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it (chosen) | 0.55 |
| Adopts it | 0.02 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.76 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.24 |
| 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 09:38 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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