Debate contribution: International Women’s Day 2024
Debate contribution by Ms Emma Sheerin on .
- MLA
- Ms Emma Sheerin
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 11 March 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- International Women’s Day 2024
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4270063
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I am delighted to support this cross-party motion celebrating International Women's Day, the theme of which this year was to inspire inclusion. When you think of what "inspiring inclusion" means, it is to involve everyone and include everybody to ensure that we can all access prosperity and that nobody is excluded from that — no woman or girl left behind, regardless of background. That means including our rural women, our women of colour, our LGBT women and our disabled women. The glass ceiling is not really broken if it is just cracked for some. This weekend was an opportunity not just to celebrate ourselves and our mothers, sisters and friends but to acknowledge the work of those who came before us and those who worked so hard to achieve gender equality, from Mary Ann McCracken and Winifred Carney to Rosa Parks and Angela Davis and women across the world united in that struggle. The Assembly reflects the change that we see across wider society. In Sinn Féin, we have more female representatives than we have ever had. We are led by two brilliant women in Michelle O'Neill and Mary Lou McDonald, and a majority of our MLA team are women. It is the same across society: we see women taking top jobs across all sectors in the North, and that brings a perspective to the table that previously was not there. All of that is to be welcomed, but we still have problems, and there is still work to be done. We still have a pay gap. We still see women held to a higher standard than men, and we still see misogyny and sexism normalised every day. Across the world, we have a presidential hopeful with multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against him, and yet he is still deemed a worthy candidate for the presidency, and women are supporting him. In the North, I am delighted that we are going in a different direction: we are going in the right direction. Some of the first commitments in this new mandate go to the very heart of what you would consider to be women's issues. Domestic violence is endemic in the North. It is the second most dangerous place in Europe to be a woman, so I am glad that all parties have committed, as a priority, to delivering and fully implementing the violence against women and girls strategy. That is a particular priority for my party. We are all united in delivering the childcare strategy: we know that childcare disproportionately impacts on women. With the crisis in domiciliary care and respite services, again, it is the women in most homes who pick up the burden of that care. If we work together to prioritise gender equality, fixing those problems will come about naturally. Therefore, I welcome the motion and urge you all to support it.
476 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: 0.07 (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 (0.60).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.86).
- 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 | 0.23 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.03 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.07 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.60 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.07 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.86 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.14 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.61 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.39 |
| 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 09:52 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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