'We have wholly unacceptable levels of violence against women' - Allister

NORTH Antrim MP Jim Allister has backed a strategy aimed at tackling violence against women and girls.

This follows representations made to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee at Westminster.

In a letter to the Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips ahead of the expected publication of the Government’s VAWG (Violence against woman and girls) strategy later this year, the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee also calls for a commitment to understanding any differences in the reasons behind violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

As part of its work on VAWG, the Committee held two evidence sessions and met with and received correspondence from organisations in Northern Ireland which support women who have experience violence. The

Committee heard how 98% of women in NI have experienced at least one form of gender-based violence and that 28% of all victim-based crimes in Northern Ireland are related to domestic abuse.

Mr. Allister commented: “This is a timely report with lessons for every part of the U.K., including NI where we have wholly unacceptable levels of violence against women.

“Such violence ranges from horrific murders, such as that of Chloe Mitchell here in Ballymena, through sexual assaults on young girls - that again has recently made the headlines in Ballymena - to domestic violence which has grown in recent years.

“All such violence is deserving of severe punishment and where the person convicted is a foreign migrant, then they should be deported.”

Anecdotal evidence received by the Committee suggested that Northern Ireland’s uniqueness among the UK nations as a post-conflict society may add another dimension to VAWG in NI.

There has also been, however, the suggestion that the dynamics and vulnerabilities in NI might be similar to those in the rest of the UK, with drug dealers and other criminals preying on at-risk women.

The Committee says more research is needed to better understand what is happening, and why, in NI and the rest of the UK.

On technology enabled abuse, there was anecdotal evidence that misogynistic culture is growing online, along with an academic study finding that a disproportionate number of women in NI are being silenced by online violence or subjected to intimate image abuse when compared with rest of the UK.

The Committee suggests additional resources for the National Crime Agency.

The Committee also calls for ringfenced funding for prevention programmes and victim support services to come from the Government, with prevention and early intervention key to tackling VAWG.

Tonia Antoniazzi MP, Chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, said: “The shocking scale of violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland, highlighted by the harrowing experiences we heard of those who are forced to put up with it daily, cannot be tolerated any longer.

“Previous efforts have clearly failed to tackle what is a scourge on society across the UK, and the Government now has an opportunity to set a new course.

“Alongside funding to protect women and girls from unacceptable abuse online, support for victims and early intervention to change attitudes, we need Stormont, Westminster, Holyrood and Cardiff to get together regularly to share what’s working, and what they’re learning, as they each respond to VAWG.

“As part of this, we’re calling for more research into issues that might be specific to Northern Ireland, so that we can help end this grim reality, which is faced by far too many.”