Debate contribution: Confidence of Women and Girls in the Justice System
Debate contribution by Mrs Naomi Long on .
- MLA
- Mrs Naomi Long
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 24 March 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Confidence of Women and Girls in the Justice System
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4865162
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I thank the Member for his question. I was fortunate last week, as were a number of other Members in the Chamber, to be present at Walkway Community Centre for an event on violence against women and girls.
I was asked quite a similar question, and I suppose that I gave three Ss. The first is sentencing. Whilst we have the highest sentences for such offences when you look at the maximum, we need to ensure that they are reflected in what is handed out in the courts. That requires the PPS, judiciary and others to work together to ensure that things are prosecuted in the right forum.
We need to ensure that there is support for people who decide to go through the criminal justice system and for those who wish to, for example, leave an abusive domestic relationship. The other issue around support is that we have sexual offences legal advisers, to whom I referred earlier. There is also an issue around the advocacy support service, which we have, again, to try to support people. We also have the remote evidence centres. I hope that all of those help to build confidence. I guess the other element for me is survivorship and how we ensure that people who have been victims of sexually motivated crime, domestic abuse or violence or, indeed, any other kind of violence against women and girls can move from being a victim, where they still feel under the control of the perpetrator, to being a survivor, where they feel that they have regained control and agency in their life. One of the key things that we are looking at in that regard is how we can deal with issues around disclosure in cases and allowing people to exercise privacy and how we can deal with, for example, the right of a victim to read out their victim impact statement in court so that they are not denied a voice, which so often happens. If we do those things, among others, we will be able to transform how people experience the justice system. Most of all, we need to speed up justice, because, until the delivery of justice is effective and efficient —
368 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: 0.04 (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).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.92).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- 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 | 0.05 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.03 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.92 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.04 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.66 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.34 |
| 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 12:13 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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