DoJ engaging with Derry policing partnership after sexually motivated attacks on women

Derry Journal

Transcript

00:00I condemn all acts of violence that endanger the safety and well-being of

00:03women and girls. In recent times we've seen an increase in reported violence

00:07including attacks in the Derry and City and Strabane District Council area. My

00:11department is continuing to work collaboratively with other key

00:14departments to help eradicate violence against women and girls. This includes

00:17work under the domestic and sexual abuse strategy which is led by my department

00:21and the Department of Health and which builds on new offences and measures that

00:24I introduced in the last mandate to tackle domestic abuse, non-fatal

00:28strangulation and stalking which are actively helping to keep women and girls

00:32safer. We know that women and girls are not exclusively affected by domestic and

00:37sexual abuse but they are disproportionately so and so the

00:40measures to address domestic and sexual abuse under the strategy will also

00:44directly contribute to broader goals of ending violence against women

00:48and girls. The delivery of the outcomes and objectives under the strategy is

00:51supported by a three-year action plan which sets out a range of specific

00:55actions that are intended to create a lasting change. For the 2024-25 financial

01:00year a ring-fenced budget of 1.62 million has been prioritised from the

01:04Department of Justice's core budget to support the delivery of cross

01:08departmental work to tackle domestic and sexual abuse.

01:13Can I thank the Minister for her response. Minister, as the Minister for

01:19Justice what measures are you taking to actually increase confidence for women

01:24and girls in the justice system and ensuring that they get proper access to

01:30support as well? With respect to support for victims most of that support is

01:36provided via other departments in collaboration with my own department.

01:39However there are a range of cross departmental priorities where we have

01:43allocated funding in terms of the assist advocacy service, advocacy for the

01:48families of victims of domestic homicide, training for law enforcement and other

01:52frontline professionals, support for domestic homicide reviews, interventions

01:57such as Operation Encompass, the development of educational resources

02:00within CCEA hub, all to support prevention of domestic and sexual abuse.

02:05There is also funding coming in this area from the Executive Office in order

02:10to fund the executive strategy for ending violence against women and girls.

02:15So from my perspective in terms of building confidence it is about ensuring

02:19that people get the service that they need at the time when they need it and

02:22that means if they don't get the service they need at the time when they need it

02:25then they know the routes to be able to make complaints about that. It is

02:29important that people are familiar with the victim and witnesses charters, that

02:32they understand their entitlements and their rights and that they feel

02:35confident enough to exercise those even in a point of crisis.

02:38Cara Hunter.

02:39Thank you Mr. Speaker. I'd like to thank the Minister for her answer so far.

02:42Understandably women right across the Northwest are still feeling very unsafe.

02:46There's been a community response with self-defense classes in Limavady which I

02:50think is brilliant. Can I ask the Minister since these attacks just weeks

02:54previous has she engaged with the local PCSP in Derry and the wider Northwest

02:59area?

03:00Yes we have through the department engaged with the PCSP in terms of

03:04additional funding and how they're spending the money that they have at the

03:08moment. It is something I'm aware for example that the PSNI have increased

03:12patrols. The PCSP also has I think some additional measures in place where

03:16people can for example get alarms from some of the PCSP's that they can carry

03:20with them for additional reassurance. So there are some challenges and it is not

03:24an easy issue. Ultimately my department mainly leads on the issue of policy and

03:29there are no quick policy fixes to violence against women and girls. The

03:33operational side in terms of the delivery of service generally falls to

03:37those arm's-length bodies over which I don't have direct authority and control.

03:41But it is important to say that we have engaged both with the local community

03:46and with the PCSP and with the PSNI to ensure that they have the resources

03:51available to them to be able to do the work that they need to do in this

03:56context. And it is important to say that if people remain fearful, if people

04:00remain afraid, that is something that is to me unacceptable. We need to change the

04:04culture both in this place and in other places where it is acceptable either to

04:10be aggressive towards women or violent towards women or abusive towards women.

04:15And until we get that right in this house as everywhere else we will not see

04:19a sea change in terms of how women are treated on our streets.

Category

Transcript

Recommended