Debate contribution: Strategic Framework to End Violence against Women and Girls: Implementation

Debate contribution by Ms Cara Hunter on 26 February 2024.

MLA

Ms Cara Hunter

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour 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 4230665

Read the official Assembly record

Text

It is regrettable that we are here today talking about this matter, but it is greatly important. We know that our society has a deep-rooted problem with misogyny and violence against women and girls. Just some of the heartbreaking and brutal murders over the past few years include those of Stacey Knell, Karen McClean, Natalie McNally and so many more. Their murder brought such sadness to our communities, a feeling of lives unfinished and justice not served. Their cases have brought to light, as have many others, the sheer and clear inadequacy of our society and its total inability to protect women and girls. Without the correct protections, women will suffer and continue to die. In order to tackle the issue, we must start at the root cause, with early intervention. I welcome the fact that the Education Committee will soon do a micro inquiry into the implementation of relationships and sexuality education in Northern Ireland. We need to educate our young people to recognise what sexual harassment, sexual assault and sexual abuse look like. Such education is fundamental to their well-being. We must make our young people feel empowered and educate them on the significance of fostering a culture that emphasises the importance of sexual consent. That includes promoting open communication, respect for boundaries and understanding the key role that bystanders can play in preventing non-consensual situations. Sadly, though, we have a culture that has normalised violence against women and girls and taken pleasure in violence against women and girls. Women are often seen through the lens of victim blaming or are even blamed for their assault. It is horrific, and we can and must do better. Tackling rape myths and challenging the narrative is extremely important. It is on each and every one of us, specifically when we have a platform such as this, to call out rape culture and rape myths. There is an evident call to consider our need to tackle the issue, specifically from an educational perspective. Younger years are key and are where healthy perceptions of women are shaped and created. Our education system must reflect that in its commitment to create a fair and equal society. A comprehensive student survey that was carried out in the past few years showed the extent of sexual harassment on Northern Irish campuses in third-level educational institutions, with one in three students revealing that they had experienced unwanted sexual behaviour during their time at university: one in three. That is an astonishing statistic, particularly when we think about the long-lasting, traumatic impact that such behaviour has on victims and survivors. I also want to look at the obstacles to reporting sexual violence, and I am happy that those have been raised today. When researching for my speech, I came across a really inspiring young lady called Ellie Wilson. She is a rape victim and survivor based in Scotland who waived her right to anonymity in order to talk about the humiliating journey of reporting a rape and talking about it, publicly and with family, and the painful and excruciatingly embarrassing moments that can happen in court. I was really impressed by her story and her bravery, waiting years at a time in the court process and enduring those humiliating cross-examinations in court. The retraumatisation of victims is absolutely awful, and it can take a large amount of money to get things like court transcripts. The Assembly and Executive need to look at prioritising victims in our court systems and ensuring that we do all that we can to make sure that the process does not retraumatise them. That is really important. I thank Ms Forsythe for her contribution when she talked about emerging technologies and, sadly, how those are weaponised and used to harm and harass women. Sadly, a few of us are no stranger to that. It is key that we educate our young people on the importance of treating women with respect. I thank the team at Nexus and, of course, Women's Aid, who have been fantastic in dealing with these issues and supporting constituents because, sadly, we see these matters every week and month. We cannot talk about strategies without funding. Strategies are meaningless pieces of paper if we do not have the resource to back them. We all want to support the victims; we cannot do that without adequate funding. I call on all Departments and all Ministers to do all that they can to ensure that we stamp out violence against women and girls for good.

754 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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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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