Debate contribution: Ending Violence against Women and Girls Strategic Framework and First Delivery Plan

Debate contribution by Ms Michelle O'Neill on 16 September 2024.

MLA

Ms Michelle O'Neill

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

16 September 2024

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Ministerial Statements

Heading

Ending Violence against Women and Girls Strategic Framework and First Delivery Plan

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4531800

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Today, I am delighted that we are announcing Executive approval for the strategic framework to end violence against women and girls and its first delivery plan. Before I continue, I would like to remember all those women who have been tragically murdered in our community recently. I extend our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Patsy Aust, Kathryn Parton, Sophie Watson and Montserrat Martorell, all of whom died in horrific circumstances over the past few months. At the weekend, we heard of another tragic loss — that of Rachel Simpson. Five women dead in a matter of weeks. Five women whose names we now know for the most tragic of reasons. There have been many others. In the past four years, over 20 women have been killed here, and their untimely deaths have had a lasting and traumatic impact on their family and friends. The depth of the loss, which is always felt, is so hard to express here in words.

All of that points to how shocking our statistics are. Behind those statistics are all those individuals. The stories of all those women who were killed must make us even more determined to act to tackle the scourge of violence, harm and abuse, which seriously impacts on the lives of too many women and girls right across our community. Today, we bring forward a strategic framework and first delivery plan to help mobilise a whole-of-society and whole-of-government response. The strategic framework was co-designed by different voices, many with years of experience in the area, and all of whom, like us, are committed to ending violence against women and girls. We are very grateful to them for that. I acknowledge that some of them are here, in the Public Gallery, this afternoon. The public consultation responses were overwhelming in their support for realising the framework's vision: a changed society, where women and girls are free from all forms of gender-based violence, abuse and harm, including the attitudes, systems and structural inequalities that cause them. The framework sets out a seven-year road map and describes the changes that are needed and the work that needs to be done to bring about an end to violence against women and girls. It will help to mobilise all parts of society to improve outcomes across four key themes. The first is prevention, which is about addressing the underlying causes of violence against women and girls to stop it before it even starts. It is the main focus of the strategic framework. We want everyone to understand what violence against women and girls is and how to take action to prevent it. We want everyone, especially our young people, to be equipped to enjoy healthy, respectful relationships. We want to ensure that women and girls feel safe, and are safe, everywhere. That means educating ourselves, our society and our young people in every aspect of their lives to ensure that we are clear that violence and abuse in relationships are never acceptable. Ultimately, we want to change society so that women and girls no longer live under that underlying threat and very real risk of harm and abuse, and it is a place where everyone can thrive and be safe. Protection and provision of services is key to the success of the strategic framework. We will support delivery of quality front-line services for victims and survivors whilst investing in the grassroots communities that carry out amazing work in tackling that issue to build capacity and extend those services. Our strategic priorities also include strengthening the justice system to build the confidence of victims and survivors and the public and create a safe space for them to tell their stories and see justice done. All that requires us to work better together across all parts of government and society to end violence against women and girls. We must work together to equip and empower our young people to enjoy healthy, respectful relationships. Men and boys have an important role to play in ending violence against women and girls. They are part of the solution if we are to bring about a change to attitudes and behaviour and challenge a misogynistic culture that can lead to harm, abuse and violence against women and girls. The framework sets out and tells us clearly what needs to be done. It is shaped by real people and real-life experiences. From that, we have created an initial delivery plan, which will deliver real-life change to people in need. That is just the beginning. We will continue to work together, right across the Chamber, to build a changed society where women and girls are free from all forms of violence, abuse and harm. Collaboration is essential for us to start to build the transformative change that is required. The delivery plan is designed to connect and support many parts of government and other strategies and investment. That includes the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and their work to deliver the domestic and sexual abuse strategy and the recommendations of the Gillen review. Collaboration and innovation will improve front-line services, protection and provision for victims and survivors, and will therefore improve experiences and better outcomes for women and girls. That work will support efforts across all parts of society. That includes building on the vital work of the grassroots groups and organisations across the voluntary and community sector. We have spoken to those people on the front line who help women and girls who are suffering and are in the most dire need of support and guidance. They make a difference each and every day. They are often the first port of call; a trusted and safe space for women and girls who need help. They are the continued source of support for victims and survivors. Their work on the ground is helping to address the culture of damaging attitudes, beliefs and behaviours that can lead to violence against women and girls. We must continue to support the delivery of that life-changing work. Community investment is therefore key. The plan ring-fences £3 million over two years in a change fund. That will support grassroots groups and community and voluntary sector organisations to do more to further build capacity and be better equipped to address the significant issue in their area. That way, we will see more interventions that will make a real difference to people's lives. We will announce further details on the change fund in the time ahead. We will also develop campaigns to raise awareness. They will provide strong and consistent messaging so that there are no excuses and everyone understands the issue and the attitudes, behaviours and culture that enable and lead to this deep-rooted problem. I have said this before, and I will say it again: there is no place in our society for violence against women and girls. It is an epidemic, and we must stop it. The harm and abuse that many suffer is often hidden in plain sight. It can affect anyone, including people whom we know. It can affect the women and girls in our life — our mummies, our sisters, our daughters, our granddaughters and our friends — the woman who lives across the street, the woman who sits next to you in work, or the woman you meet on the bus, in the shop or at the school gates. It happens everywhere. It must stop, and there is something that all of us can do. The framework has been designed by our society and government working together. It has been fully endorsed by the public in the consultation. It is now for all of us to continue to work together and make real change possible. That way, we can end violence against women and girls.

Of course we would want to have more funding and resources, but this is a good first step. We are nowhere near the position that the South of Ireland is in; you know that. There are two different jurisdictions, unfortunately, for now. We have to deal with the reality in which we are working. It is a positive first step today to be able to announce £3 million to back up some of the delivery work that we want to see over the next two years, but it is just the start. Let us build on it and learn as we go. Right at the heart of the strategy and plan that has been set out is the idea that we can measure our progress as we go and continually look towards revising areas that we think need revision. We need to continue to invest in the area. I wish that we were in the same position and that we could invest at the level that you referred to, but that is not our reality. However, I am pleased that we now have the strategy and framework and that there is broad support for it. We now need to see the delivery plans and the practical benefits on the ground. Let us get that £3 million out to the groups that provide first-class services every day, often on very restricted budgets. Today marks the start of our getting to a point at which we can end violence against women and girls. I think that we all have to accept that that is a reality. We can end violence against women and girls. Prevention is right at the heart of that. We must invest. As I said, I am pleased that we have been able to do this today.

The framework is very much about ending violence against all women and girls, including anyone who has been impacted on by historical institutional abuse, but we also have a focused area of work to make sure that we have proper support for people who have come through such trauma. If, for example, throughout the lifetime of the delivery plan, we start to see that that becomes an issue of concern or launching the framework today perhaps invites more women to come forward, we would, obviously, have to adjust to reflect that. Thank you for that question.

I thank the Member for that question. She makes a relevant point. Success in this area of work has to involve us listening to people on the front line. They are at the coalface, supporting women day and daily. There is no better experience that could be brought to bear on how we should respond than the experience of those who have been impacted. Those real-life experiences and voices have been crucial in getting us to the juncture we are at today. They help us to properly understand the journey that a woman may go through. Co-design has been at the heart of developing the strategy, and we are proud of the fact that so many partners came together to get it right. I confirm that the feedback from the consultation was positive about it being the right approach. As I said, today marks the start of our journey in ending violence against women and girls.

Yes, thank you. I look forward to working with the Member and the Committee as we develop the work and see the implementation of the delivery plan. Absolutely, it is a whole-of-society problem. It is not a woman's problem. It is about all of society, and everybody has a role to play. The areas of work that we have identified in the delivery plan will focus minds on key messaging in order to ensure that people understand what violence looks like and that it comes in many forms. Getting that better understanding will help us to get to the point where we can say that we have ended violence against women and girls. I absolutely concur that a whole-of-society approach is required for us to be successful.

As the Member has rightly highlighted, the justice system is one of the areas that we are focused on. All Executive colleagues are committed to delivering on the framework, including the work around justice that falls within the framework and is under the responsibility of the Justice Department. When we come at such things, prevention is the best approach. That is why the framework and delivery plan focus on prevention, but the other side is, obviously, ensuring that sentencing is appropriate. Absolutely, we will continue to work with Justice on that.

Thank you for that. Of course, you are absolutely right. There is no doubt in my mind that there are many women and girls across our society who will face particular and increased risks, as well as additional barriers to justice, services and support — not only women who are deaf or disabled or from minority ethnic communities or from LGBTQIA+ communities but older women, women who are financially dependent, women who are homeless, women who suffer from addiction, women who have emigrated here and women who live in rural areas. There are particular barriers that will be faced by different categories of women, and it is important that we say from the Chamber today to all of those women that we see you and hear you and that we are determined to reach you as well as everybody else. Part of our delivery plan, as you will see, includes ensuring that we fully understand any of those additional barriers, in whatever form they may come, and understand whatever additional challenges there may be. We then have to work out how we can overcome those challenges. I assure the Member that this is, again, an area of work that will be very much evidence-based and driven by the lived experience of so many women and girls.

Thank you for your comments on the strategy. I am delighted to say that the deputy First Minister and I have been able to secure the £3 million funding. I want to get that onto the ground as quickly as possible, so we are actively working our way through how that can be done. We have published the plan today, we know what the actions are and now we just need to be able to fund it. I think that £3 million for the first two years of the programme allows us to get moving on that work, but we need to continue to build on that and add to it as we can.

Yes, I absolutely can say that we have engaged with partners the whole way through. They are part and parcel of getting us to this juncture, and we are grateful. That is the strength of the strategy and of the delivery plan. I do not think that there is anybody out there who would not say that we would want to have more finances to put in this area of work. We have identified the £3 million, and we will work with the sector and the organisations to get that out onto the ground as quickly as possible. As I said, one of the benefits of the plan is that we will do a stocktake every six months. We will report to the Executive on progress, and we will be able to identify additional areas that come on board that we, perhaps, have not planned for. We have to continually try to maximise the funding that we have for this work. We will very much work with the sector. I have no doubt that there will not be anybody in the sector who will not say that they need additional funding to do the necessary work on the ground.

2,594 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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