Debate contribution: Domestic and Sexual Abuse Small Grant Scheme
Debate contribution by Mrs Naomi Long on .
- MLA
- Mrs Naomi Long
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 29 April 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Domestic and Sexual Abuse Small Grant Scheme
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4922061
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Following publication of the new seven-year domestic and sexual abuse strategy in September 2025, the Health Minister and I launched a small grants scheme that offered voluntary and community sector organisations the opportunity to apply for funding to support new ideas and initiatives that aligned with the key strategic pillars outlined in the strategy. Over £300,000 was provided to 14 projects that were to be completed by 31 March 2025. Those projects were to deliver local solutions, promoting prevention; improving outcomes for victims and survivors; and providing a coordinated and impactful response to domestic and sexual abuse. Each project was required to report with post-project evaluations. That work is ongoing, and, to date, five post-project evaluations have been received. I am encouraged that the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and that early insights demonstrate tangible benefits. Those include the provision of support to 24 women and 31 children by North Down and Ards Women’s Aid through its Moving On project; the provision of information to over 200 attendees at an event to mark International Women’s Day that was organised by the Women’s Centre in Derry; White Ribbon’s pilot training programme for Northern Ireland Prison Service staff to enable them to deliver training to residents at Hydebank Wood Secure College aimed at challenging the attitudes and beliefs that lead to violence against women and girls; the provision of brief solution-focused therapy by Nexus to support 102 individuals, which is aimed at crisis de-escalation to support survivors of sexual violence; and the delivery by Derry Well Women of three programmes to young women and girls impacted by domestic and sexual abuse, which is aimed at empowering women and girls to deal with past trauma associated with domestic abuse and to live their best lives. Further work, which will be informed by receipt of the outstanding post-project evaluations, is needed in order to provide a comprehensive assessment of the impact of the small grant scheme to date.
324 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).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.67).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.99).
- 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 | 0.03 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.01 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.67 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.99 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.01 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.75 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.25 |
| 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 12:28 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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