Everyone has the right to feel safe. And everyone has the right to feel safe with us.
Simple themes, used as part of Women’s Aid’s preventative education programme ‘Helping Hands’, aimed at primary school children to increase their understanding of feeling safe and promote behaviours that contribute to a safe environment.
There are many that might think feeling safe is a given. That in 21st Century Northern Ireland, it is a statement of fact, and yet on a cold, wet morning in October we are informed of yet another death. The fourth women to be murdered in Northern Ireland in six weeks. The stark truth is that on average a woman is murdered in Northern Ireland every other month. Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is endemic across society, affecting 1 in 3 women in their lifetime globally.
Every 16 minutes the PSNI respond to a domestic abuse incident. The vast majority in which the victims are women and there are children present. As the lead agency tackling domestic abuse, Women’s Aid services supported nearly 8,000 women last year, 274 of these women were pregnant whilst accessing this support and 6,290 children and young people were supported whilst their mother accessed support. These are not statistics to be proud of, a full refuge provision is a flaw in society, not an achievement.
Women and Girls do not feel safe here. This cannot continue to happen. Women’s Aid Federation NI have long campaigned for an end to violence against women and girls and on 9 March 2021, launched a petition calling for an Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (EVAWG) strategy. The public answered and 26,000 signatures later and on 17 September 2024 Women’s Aid were able to turn that petition off. The Executive Office after months of meaningful co–design between all sectors of society launched its first ever strategy dedicated to tackling gender–based violence.
Its vision: A changed society where women and girls are free from all forms of gender–based violence, abuse and harm including the attitudes, systems and structural inequalities that cause them.
It is an ambitious vision that will require buy in from every level of society and require structural, cultural and behavioural change from all who live, work, learn and play in Northern Ireland. It is a vision that Women’s Aid Federation NI has held for over 40 years and while we welcome the launch of this strategy, which finally brings us in line with the rest of the UK and RoI, we are vigilant of the fact that this is in many ways the start of a journey, not the end of one.
The launch of the EVAWG strategy is timely given that it coincides with both the launch of the new Domestic and Sexual Abuse Strategy for Northern Ireland and the first Programme for Government for Northern Ireland since 2011. For the first time ever, VAWG was recognised as one of the nine key priorities. This is a seismic shift in recognition of domestic abuse and violence against women and girls at a government level.
Full implementation of this strategy will require full government leadership, with prioritised, adequate funding. With a note of caution on what is adequate because any new funding opportunity opened to the voluntary/community sector will create expectations and will certainly be over subscribed. But without a solid framework of resourcing and support surrounding the strategy it cannot hope to create the lasting change that is required to end this epidemic. This is horizon funding which requires a brave government if we want to take violence against women and girls seriously and create a changed society where women and girls are safe and ultimately everyone is safer.
We are at a time of immense change and the potential for current government strategies to create social transformation is huge but this needs to happen in partnership. With everyone acknowledging the specialist support that each agency brings to the table and allowing multi–agency working to create a safety net that women and children do not fall through. VAWG is everyone’s business, and we need a joined–up approach across all of society to address the issue and impact change, from government, the public, statutory agencies and preventative education to name a few.
Seventy–five percent of the EVAWG strategy is focused on prevention and tackling the root causes of violence against women and girls to stop it before it starts and for good reason, the best way to eliminate VAWG in society is to prevent it from happening. Prevention shifts the narrative and creates lasting change for the next generation.
Women’s Aid Federation NI acknowledge the work that lies ahead in achieving an end to violence against women and girls, it is a deep–rooted societal problem and ending it will take considerable effort from everyone. But it is achievable, the journey needs to start now and a future in which everyone feels safe, and everyone feels safe with us is on the horizon.
Sarah Mason, CEO Women’s Aid Federation Northern Ireland
Sarah has worked with Women’s Aid for over 30 years. In her current role she works closely with the CEOs of all 8 Local Women’s Aid Groups across NI to promote collaboration ad progressive development. Sarah manages the team at WAFNI and along with the Board of Directors and Local Group CEOs sets the strategic direction for the organisation.
