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 4531849

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Yes, I am confident about that. Every Department has been involved and engaged in the work that we have done to get us to this point. The fact that the Executive have signed off on this as an Executive-wide strategy shows the commitment across the Executive to this work. I have no doubt that every Member in the Chamber also supports this work. This is something that is so deep-rooted in our society, and, if we do not start to try to turn it around and end it and focus on prevention, the problem will only get worse. You can see from the document that we talk about "Working better together", and that is very much our commitment at a ministerial level and across the sector with those who are on the ground in the delivery of the framework to make sure that we meet the needs of all. I am confident that we have that commitment to work together, and working better together applies to most things in life. We will get more done when we work together than we will when we work in silos.

I concur. This is not just for women to solve; it is for everybody in society to solve. The piece of the jigsaw around education is crucial in making sure that we have clear, consistent messaging across society, including in our school system. With regard to being able to measure our progress, written into the plan is an outcomes-based accountability framework. We will have an oversight board in place that will report twice a year to the Executive. Those reports will be not just from the Executive Office but across all Departments and all strategies that are aligned to the framework. In the coming weeks, we will talk about the Department of Justice and Department of Health domestic and sexual abuse strategy (DSA). All those things will be interlinked and complementary in many ways. It is important that those things are aligned. I am confident that we can measure our progress as we go.

Yes, I absolutely agree. As I said previously, it is an everyone issue. We have to take that approach to it, otherwise we will not be successful in ending violence against women and girls. All the evidence tells us that most acts of violence against women and girls are by men, so the problem will not be solved without the support of men and boys. We need them to be allies in this area of work. They are an integral part of the solution, so it is important that we talk to young people and, in particular, men and boys about their role in getting us to the point where we eradicate violence against women and girls.

There are strategies around those last two areas, but none of these things can work in silos. To have a whole-of-society approach, we have to come at everything in a holistic and collective way. We want to be able to say more about the change fund and how we will get the £3 million on to the ground over the coming weeks. We are working our way through the practicalities of what that looks like, but I assure the Member that we will make sure that that is widely publicised and that groups know what they can apply for, the quantum of it and the area of work that they can deliver. We will be able to document a lot more about that once we get to a final juncture, so we will be able to say more in the coming weeks.

Perhaps it would be better if I came back to the Member in detail in writing, because a lot of that comes under the remit of DOJ and what it is doing, but I am very happy to follow it up with a more holistic response. In answer to a previous question, I said that none of these things can be looked at in isolation; they need to be looked at in the round. Our strategy is around making sure that prevention is at the heart of our plan. That is the best solution so that we do not focus all our efforts at the end point, but, clearly, we have to when terrible, horrible murders have occurred.

On the particular question of granting bail, I will ask DOJ to write to the Member.

One of our key themes is around the justice system, because we know, as the Member has said, that going to court is a very traumatic time for any woman who has experienced violence. Going through the justice system and feeling that retraumatisation is something that has to be tackled. I am very glad to say that, yes, we have been working with the Department of Justice on that area. It is one of our key themes, and something on which we are going to make improvements. We will be able to say more about that as the plan develops. The Member can see from the first delivery plan that it is an area on which we are focused in the first two years, because we identify it as being one of the areas on which we need to see early progress made. We hope to keep Members up to date on the work that we are doing. When it comes to justice, for example, one such area of work is the My Justice Journey platform, which will allow us to improve access to information and support and to build confidence in the justice system. That will be a very targeted campaign to ensure that people have the fullest information. It will represent a good development by addressing some of the areas to which the Member has just referred.

Yes. That goes right to the heart of how we will use the £3 million that we have identified for the change fund. As I said, it is only the beginning, in order to allow us to get moving on the first two-year plan. The investment in our community and voluntary sector will enable all those grassroots groups and regional organisations to expand the number of on-the-ground projects in response to particular issues on which they are already working. I hope that our supporting them through that investment will enhance the work that they do so well. Many of the groups and organisations are ready to scale up if we can secure additional funding. It is that type of work that makes a hugely positive difference to people's lives. It transforms people's lives. I want everyone to be clear that our ambition for the programme is to do what we can in the immediate future but also, for the next seven years, to determine how we can continue to build on what we have announced today and continue to create that long-term transformation in society.

The Member will know that we recently had a debate on that topic. I agree that, in today's world, there is so much misleading information and mistruth out there, and it is so easily accessed, often online, by all our children and young people and by adults. It is therefore more important than ever that our young people have age-appropriate information that is consistent and is provided in school and also that they have trusted adults to speak to and engage with. As you know, the Department of Education is reviewing the relationships and sexuality education curriculum. The Member will have a role to play in trying to shape that review. We need to reach further and beyond, however. It needs to be got right in schools but also beyond there, in wider society. How therefore do we support community groups that work with young people with messaging, for example? How do we support families as they navigate the complex world in which we live today?

The healthy relationships forum that is led by the Department of Education is reviewing not only what we teach our young people but how we equip the trusted role models in our schools, communities and homes. Our change fund will also have a role to play in supporting groups that work with young people in particular.

It is a scenario in which we can clearly measure our progress. We will have an oversight board. That will not just be in Departments but will work with the sector. The framework will be benchmarked regularly. We will have regular reviews, and we will be able to monitor how effective we have been or, perhaps, where we have not been effective and need to do better. I am confident that we have built into the plan the tools to measure progress.

Yes. We have developed a performance management framework that will monitor progress against our objectives. Part of the work to be undertaken under the first delivery plan that we have set out today involves the establishment of baselines. That will support the effective measurement of progress, which will be able to be monitored at both programme and project level on an outcomes-based accountability basis. We want to ensure that the oversight board will be cross-sectoral and include representation from local government, the community and voluntary sector and independent experts, the people who helped design the framework that we have today.

Yes. Every loss of life or every woman who has experienced violence is too many. It is so timely that, today, we reach the point of announcing the framework and delivery plan, given, as I said, the number of women who have so tragically lost their lives to something that is preventable. Violence against women and girls is preventable. I referred to five more names, and enough is enough: it is time for it to stop and for everybody in society to step up and make sure that this is the end. Today, as a society, we start on a journey towards the point at which we can end violence against women and girls and create an environment where we say no to everyday sexism, misogyny and abuse and do so collectively.

Yes. Gap analysis is important. In year 1 of our two-year plan, we will have research on men and boys' attitudes and behaviours related to violence against women and girls. We also want to evaluate the criminal justice support worker pilot that ran in Belfast and Lisburn Women's Aid and to conduct the first phase of gap analysis for violence against women and girls — provision in general and specialist services — to help to inform further policies. If we are to keep advancing and making strides forward, it is important that those areas of work go ahead. The first piece is around research on the attitudes of men and boys, but we will do the three pieces of work over the next two years.

The strategy is very much focused on prevention; that is at the heart of the strategy. Rehabilitation will fall to the Department of Justice. That is outside the framework but runs alongside it, because all these things are interlinked.

Thanks for that. There is a dedicated stream on being able to go out and socialise safely, which is really important. A group is now in place. As we develop the strategy, when any changes come forward, that group should be the filter that provides the lens. I think that is how it will operate, but I will confirm that. We now have a ready-made group: why would it not become the filter and lens for the framework and what we are trying to achieve? We have to make sure that it gives us feedback. Where we need to adapt policy, regulation or legislation, that is what we should do.

It is unfortunate that you take that approach, but we will not be distracted. We are here to launch a strategy to end violence against women and girls. It is endemic in our society, and it must stop. The focus of the framework is on prevention and tackling the root causes of violence against women. We will remain focused on the work that we are trying to do. It is a whole-society approach. I encourage you even to get behind it, because it is really important. It is about women who are being murdered. We need to end violence against women and girls. I would like to think that everyone who has been elected to the Chamber has the same goal in mind.

Thanks for that. I go back to the point that the strategy is about prevention. It is vital that we focus on prevention and ensure that the violence does not happen. That will take time, of course. We will not do it overnight, but we have to start somewhere, and today is the start of that work. I agree with you about the intimidation points. My party colleagues have also raised that issue. It is separate from the preventative piece and the framework, but, yes, collectively, we, as an Assembly, should look towards how that can be rectified in the housing system. On the £3 million comment, this is the start of a plan. It is £3 million for the first two years. I hope we can build on that, particularly when we find areas of work where we can invest more. We will not be found wanting in trying to find every penny that we can to tackle what is the biggest issue facing our society.

2,248 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:01 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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