Debate contribution: Nexus: 40th Anniversary
Debate contribution by Ms Connie Egan on .
- MLA
- Ms Connie Egan
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 9 December 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Nexus: 40th Anniversary
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4698774
Read the official Assembly record
Text
As a member of the Women's Caucus, I am proud to speak on behalf of the Alliance Party and my constituents of North Down to thank Nexus for 40 years' worth of absolutely vital assistance and help to individuals across Northern Ireland. The service that it delivers and the lifeline that it gives to those facing some of the hardest circumstances that anyone could ever come across is second to none. So many would be lost without it. I know that I will not need to familiarise anyone in the Chamber with Nexus's work. Unfortunately, there is not much time that goes by between constituents contacting our offices, disclosing circumstances of sexual assault or abusive relationships and seeking help moving forward in a safer environment. Nexus is a relied-on service to which we all signpost. It is a service that we cannot take for granted. Nexus has played and continues to play a fundamental role in shifting the narratives and common knowledge on sexual abuse in our culture, in our everyday lives and in our media. It has worked alongside other organisations to raise awareness of domestic abuse and it sensitivities. Our social media and news intake is fast-paced and constantly growing. It is vital that we ground the truth of those stories in the needs of victims and survivors. It is vital that we use media in a way that calls out rape myths and disempowering narratives that can cast purposeful doubt on those who have been abused, thus giving a platform to perpetrators. It is that work that Nexus's whole-society approach helps champion and bring together. The misogyny and ingrained hatred in our society that leads to domestic abuse is endemic and must be stopped. It is our responsibility as legislators to put in place actions and plans that do that. We need look only as far as the recently launched strategic framework to end violence against women and girls, the domestic and sexual abuse strategy or the Gillen review. They were long overdue as a result of our stop-start government and a fiscal situation that does not serve the people whom we represent, but Nexus and others were there to pick up the pieces and provide its life-saving services. I am unsure whether the average person realises the amount of work in which Nexus is involved. Its work goes beyond its absolutely vital counselling services. As many Members have said, Nexus was founded in 1984. It was set up as a response to a quick succession of rapes in south Belfast, focusing on supporting people facing the most horrendous circumstances at a time when our societal definition of consent was viewed much differently from how it is viewed today and when the services that we now have in place were not there to help victims and survivors. Nexus championed education on and prevention of sexual abuse then, as it does now. In 2020, the Rape Crisis NI helpline launched alongside a new website providing educational and support materials. This year, Nexus finished training over 500 front-line PSNI officers and serious crime prosecutors to improve our response to sexual abuse in the justice system. Those are only snippets of the work in which its staff and dedicated volunteers are involved. Last week, I attended an event in my constituency of North Down to recognise Nexus's achievements, marking 40 years of public service and a changing of the way in which this society thinks about things, something that many of us in the Chamber today could only dream of achieving. From me and all of us here, "Thank you".
600 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: 0.03 (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 (0.65).
- 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 | 0.07 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.04 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.43 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.65 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.35 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.68 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.32 |
| 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 11:41 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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