Member's statement: 16 Days of Activism
Member's statement by Ms Diane Forsythe on .
- MLA
- Ms Diane Forsythe
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 26 November 2024
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- 16 Days of Activism
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4677217
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I rise to mark the 16 Days of Activism, an international movement against gender-based violence that began yesterday on International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. I also mark the UNiTE campaign, which highlights that a woman is killed every 10 minutes. In 2024, that is a horrific and unacceptable fact. I call on every Member to support that campaign and focus on the perpetrators, the evil amongst us and their violent actions. Women do not feel safe in society and we take decisions for our safety every day. In recent weeks, I have been deeply affected by the trial in America of the man who was accused of Laken Riley's murder. Laken was a 22-year-old young woman. She was a nursing student with her whole life ahead of her, and, on 22 February this year, she went for a run, which was her regular exercise. Like so many of us women, she looked around, assessed the risks and took steps for her safety. Those were steps that she should not have needed to take but did take. She waited until it was broad daylight to go for her run, wore her smartwatch and carried her phone. She set her location on those devices so that it was shared with her friends, told her friends where she was going and texted her mum to say that she was going for her run. She planned her daylight run for a busy public park near her university campus, where lots of people would be walking around. We see that on the CCTV footage. She took every precaution and set off. Minutes into her run, an evil predator, who was hiding in the bushes, attacked her. He pulled her off the trail, viciously assaulted her and attempted to rape her. Laken managed to phone 911 through the SOS app on her mobile phone. Whilst the 911 staff could not make her out, the recording caught her crying for help. He hung up the call and continued to attack her. The records on Laken's smartwatch show that, when she was attacked, she fought at that spot for 17 minutes. She fought for her life and dignity whilst 911 tried to phone her back and her family were calling her, but he killed her through asphyxiation and blunt force trauma to her head with a rock. That is a devastating loss: a life taken too soon. My heart breaks for Laken's family. Laken Riley, like so many women, took every step and every precaution for her own safety, yet she was attacked and murdered in broad daylight in a public park. That is shocking, yet it is the truth. That could be any of us: our daughters, our sisters, our mums or our friends. I will always speak up for innocent victims as they go about their business in society, but the truth is that we should not be focused on advising women to take steps to look after their own safety. The focus needs to be on the perpetrators and the violence and problems in our society. We need a change, and we need to end violence against women and girls.
529 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: 0.11 (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).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.89).
- 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 | 0.03 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.05 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.08 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.43 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.11 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.89 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.11 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.58 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.42 |
| 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 11:35 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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