THE SDLP’s Sinéad McLaughlin has said women’s voices must be at the heart of strategies to tackle violence and abuse.
She was speaking after attending a stakeholder engagement event on the violence against women and girls strategy and domestic and sexual abuse strategy at Stormont on Thursday.
Ms McLaughlin proposed the event as part of her role as Executive Office Committee chair.
Among the groups in attendance were Stop Street Harassment NI, Disability Action and Raise Your Voice.
Said the Foyle MLA: “It was great to her from a wide range of women’s groups from right across the North at Stormont today.
“As we shape our strategies to tackle violence and abuse, we must ensure that the views of women are at the heart of these strategies and nothing is overlooked and that’s why I ensured they were given the opportunity to speak out on this.
“It’s deeply regrettable that the Executive Office has failed to properly consult with women up to this point.
“Whether it’s these important strategies or the Covid-19 recovery plan, the authentic voices of women are seldom heard when important decisions affecting them are made.
“The message from the women present was they previously felt marginalised and were only being consulted as a tick-box exercise.
“I hope this event can serve as a resetting of the relationship and that we can build new links with women’s groups going forward.
“The SDLP secured Assembly support for a strategy on violence after a string of horrific murders and it’s long past time that we had a dedicated plan in place to tackle violence and abuse towards women.
“It’s extremely upsetting that we have been reminded recently by high-profile incidents right across these islands how far our society still has to go in the way it treats women.
“This stakeholder engagement event was incredibly beneficial and I will make sure that the views expressed are included as we take forward these strategies.
“I would also encourage women everywhere to respond to the public consultation that is ongoing.
“We are making progress on these issues, the introduction of specific legislation around stalking and coercive control is welcome and will help many women, but we need to see concrete strategies in place so that we can do everything in our power to protect women from violence and abuse.”
Tags: