Debate contribution: Ending Violence Against Women and Girls

Debate contribution by Mr Matthew O'Toole on 14 January 2025.

MLA

Mr Matthew O'Toole

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

14 January 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Ending Violence Against Women and Girls

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4736356

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank all those who participated in the first of today's Opposition day motions on violence against women and girls. It has been said repeatedly during the debate that we face a crisis in this society: that is true. I thank all those who participated in the debate and commend colleagues for the seriousness and depth with which the debate was conducted. I will not go through every point that was made, but I will tackle a few. First, I want to reflect on the depth of the crisis that we face and what it means for our society, our people, ourselves and our families. A lot of the most impassioned people to speak on the subject are, necessarily, women. Female MLAs have spoken today with extraordinary intensity, as Sorcha Eastwood did in the House of Commons last week. My colleague Sinéad McLaughlin opened the debate. Emma Sheerin spoke with immense insight and passion, as she has done many times in the Chamber. Joanne Bunting, Connie Egan and Diana Armstrong gave passionate speeches. Diana spoke about the most recent victim of the horrendous epidemic of femicide on this island in Ballyconnell in County Cavan, which is near where she represents. It is important that male politicians and men in general also speak about the subject, because, in many ways, men and male behaviour are at the root of many of the problems. It is important that we speak sincerely and honestly about the seriousness of the challenges and what we need to do to overcome them. Today's motions are about tackling the range of policy interventions that we can make, some of which are covered in the violence against women and girls strategy and others are not. As a husband and father, I think that it is sometimes important to reflect on the matter at a personal level. I was having a conversation with my wife recently about something as mundane as going running and taking exercise. We live in south-east Belfast, quite close to Cregagh glen, which is just on the border of my constituency and that of Joanne Bunting. I was encouraging my wife, who is no shrinking violet, to go for a run or a walk in Cregagh glen. If you have not been to it, I can say that it is a lovely little glen just off the ring road. I sometimes go there for a run. It is a great place to clear your head at lunchtime. She said casually, "I wouldn't, because I would feel a bit exposed going there alone." That stopped me in my tracks. I thought, "Jeez, this is not something that I ever have to think about". In a couple of months' time, my wife will give birth, and we are going to have a baby daughter. It really makes you stop, pause and think, not just as a politician but as somebody who has a wife and will soon have a daughter, about the extent of the crisis of violence against women that we face. Twenty-five people since 2020 have lost their life. They are not just statistics. They are Natalie McNally, an activist, an Armagh fan and a passionate, brilliant campaigner; in County Offaly, Ashling Murphy, a primary-school teacher; Annie Heyneman, who has just lost her life in County Cavan; and Karen Cummings, the nurse from Banbridge who lost her life. They are not statistics or dry abstract numbers; they are real people who had lives that were taken away from them cruelly. Our motion today calls for the implementation of two specific parts of the Gillen review. One is on reform of the reasonable belief defence. I welcome the fact that the junior Minister has confirmed that the Justice Minister will consult on taking action on that. I acknowledge that the Justice Minister was suffering from a cold yesterday, so it is fair enough that she is not here today. I asked her a question late last year and have not received a response, but I am glad that we have some confirmation that we will see reform of that issue.

I do not think that I will get an extra minute, and I have a few things to get through. I welcome that confirmation from the junior Minister. A number of points were made about pretrial jury education. It is critical that, in our justice system, we retain free and fair trial processes and that the judiciary has discretion, but that happens already. It has to be said that a few particularly lurid comments were made about that, particularly by Mr Gaston. Judges give direction; jurors are given education. That was reflected on in the Gillen review. The justice system is the downstream part of the policy intervention in the crisis that we face, but there are real things that we can do. Our motion calls for specific, overdue action to implement them. Justice Gillen is not some left-wing, trendy academic; he is a former Appeal Court judge. They are serious, practical proposals. Let us get on with them. This is the first of our motions today. I am a little concerned about the DUP amendment —

— because we have had a lot of consultation in this area. We commend the motion, and I thank all of those who spoke today for the seriousness with which they approached the subject.

895 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:47 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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