Member's statement: Violence Against Women and Girls and Child Protection
Member's statement by Mr Paul Frew on .
- MLA
- Mr Paul Frew
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 9 June 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Violence Against Women and Girls and Child Protection
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4996973
Read the official Assembly record
Text
For the majority of my time in the Assembly, since 2010, I have worked incredibly hard with Departments, outside bodies and charities to modernise legislation to protect women and girls. I sit on the all-party group (APG) on domestic and sexual violence — I have done so for a considerable time and was chair for a period — and I have changed and amended legislation, not least the domestic violence and stalking legislation that came before us in the previous term. I even brought in the child protection disclosure scheme that allows parents to apply for disclosure on anyone who is acting suspiciously around their children. We have made great advances, yet, every week, we are confronted with crimes that show that we have much more to do. I have continually warned Departments that more must be done to support and protect women and girls, yet we see government and enforcement agencies continue to fail our people. The police will not promote the child protection disclosure scheme, and they do not make our people aware of it. Councils, the Housing Executive and Departments have not got to grips with problem tenants and with HMOs, and the Westminster Government have failed us all with their abject failure to secure our borders and keep us safe. There is absolutely no sign of them reversing the situation and fixing the problems in immigration — indeed, illegal immigration. Only a matter of weeks ago in the House, I warned that people who live in my North Antrim constituency, particularly in Ballymena, are living in fear. Since then, there have been two serious sexual assaults on two teenage girls in broad daylight by what could be multiple perpetrators. Police investigations and legal proceedings are ongoing, so I refuse to comment further on those live cases, lest they be damaged or compromised. Those assaults have sent shock waves through Ballymena and further afield. Given the level of concern that there has been and the contact that I have received from all quarters of society, I really worry for my home town and the residents who live there. We need to see justice being done for those heinous, despicable crimes of sexual assault when they happen. We need to see women and girls — our children and grandchildren — protected from people who seek to do them harm and to hurt them. It is time for effective government action, with all government arms and agencies working together. It is time for justice. It is time for our women and girls to be able to walk our local streets in safety, and it is time for Departments to act in order to prevent such heinous crimes. That is what our people call for, and that is what our people require. It is about time that the Government protected our people.
472 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers
Decided as qualifying on a second assessment, because Jev’s answers did not settle it. The reasons are given below.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.42 (qualifying needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not qualifying).
- Criteria met: Dog-whistle messaging (0.62).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.74).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.55).
- Subject area: Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers.
- The answers did not meet either automatic 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.
Second assessment
Jev’s answers did not settle this record, so a second model, claude-opus-5-5, read the same text (without the MLA’s name or party) and gave its reasons on 21 October 2026. How the second assessment works
- Verdict
- Qualifying
- Public interest or divisiveness
- Mixed
Against the published rubric
Much of the statement deals with violence against women and girls, legislation and the child protection disclosure scheme, which is legitimate scrutiny. However, it then ties two serious sexual assaults on teenage girls in Ballymena to a failure "to secure our borders", "illegal immigration" and "problem tenants and with HMOs", and calls for protection of "our people" from "people who seek to do them harm". This conveys indirectly that migrants are a sexual threat to local women and children, which the rubric identifies as a dog whistle. It also frames the issue as local people versus incomers, even while saying it will not comment on the live cases.
Public interest or divisiveness
Pressing departments and police on protecting women and girls and promoting the disclosure scheme serves the public interest. But placing the assaults alongside immigration and HMOs, and repeatedly invoking "our people" and a town "living in fear", presents migrants as a group as a danger to the community. It does so without any stated evidence, and at a moment of acute local tension. That framing is substantial and deepens division, so the statement serves both purposes.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.24 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.46 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.62 | Yes |
| Controversy escalation | 0.09 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.74 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.42 | Between thresholds |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.55 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.01 |
| Adopts it | 0.44 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.56 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.40 |
| Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers | 0.04 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:42 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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