Committee publication · Correspondence · 3 September 2025
Correspondence with Foyle Family Justice Centre relating to ending violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland, dated 11 August and 29 April 2025.
From: Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
Inquiry: Ending violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland
Summary
Correspondence between the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee and Foyle Family Justice Centre regarding violence against women and girls (VAWG) in Northern Ireland. The Centre's detailed response presents alarming statistics—98% of adult women have experienced gender-based violence—and identifies systemic failures including underfunding, legislative gaps, paramilitary-driven abuse, and institutional distrust. It calls for ring-fenced funding, legislative parity with the rest of the UK, and expansion of integrated support models like Family Justice Centres.
Key findings
- 98% of adult women surveyed in Northern Ireland reported experiencing at least one form of gender-based violence or abuse in their lifetime; 73% of girls aged 12–17 reported gender-based violence
- Northern Ireland was the last UK region to implement a VAWG strategy; political instability (functioning government absent for 1,094 days) delayed legislation and service rollout; PSNI budget cuts (5% in 2018/19, only 4.5% uplift in 2024 despite 11% inflation) have created staff retention crises
- Paramilitarism represents a distinct Northern Ireland risk factor: 14 proscribed organisations use IPV coercion alongside community-level threats, surveillance, and punishment shootings; women experience 'group-based' coercive control not replicated elsewhere in the UK
- Specialist domestic abuse services face chronic underfunding (budgets unchanged since 2009), long waiting lists, and lack of animal fostering services; comparative funding disparities highlighted (Westminster committed £125m, Ireland £363m, Scotland £9.5m in initial periods)
- Criminal justice system failures include low victim confidence, lack of inter-agency communication, poor implementation of homicide review recommendations (Gillen review 2018 incomplete), inadequate court provisions, and sentencing perceived as mismatched to abuse severity
Recommendations
- Establish a Four-Nation Strategy ensuring consistent legal powers, funding, and data collection across the UK; appoint an independent EVAWG Champion for Northern Ireland
- Improve data collection and accountability by aligning reporting structures and investing in technology for better data retention and analysis
- Invest significantly in specialist services and workforce, addressing skills gaps in health, social care, and education; fund domestic abuse animal fostering support
- Legislate for equality and protection, extending stalking and coercive control laws to Northern Ireland and recognizing domestic abuse as a breach of human rights
- Support victim-centric models by further investing in and expanding Family Justice Centre model and Family Drug and Alcohol Courts (FDACs); ensure wraparound support including housing and legal assistance
- Provide training for service professionals on the significance of paramilitarism in intimate partner violence and group-based coercive control in Northern Ireland contexts
Tone
CriticalTopics
violence-against-women-and-girlsdomestic-abusecriminal-justicepublic-fundingparamilitarism
Key actors
Tonia Antoniazzi MP, Marie Brown, Michelle Martin, Damian McAteer, Judge Burgess, Dr Geraldine O'Hare, Andrea and Tom, Foyle Family Justice Centre
Notable line
“Northern Ireland is the most dangerous places in the United Kingdom for women and girls, with crime statistics showing they are disproportionately affected by violence, abuse, and intimidation.”
Key Quotes
“98% of adult women surveyed said that they had experienced at least one form of gender-based violence or abuse in their lifetime”
“Northern Ireland is the most dangerous places in the United Kingdom for women and girls, with crime statistics showing they are disproportionately affected by violence, abuse, and intimidation.”
“In 2018/19, these services faced a 5% budget cut, and despite inflation reaching 11%, only a 4.5% uplift was granted in”
“Specialized Domestic abuse services have proven track records of supporting and increasing women and children's safety and have for over fifty years been a lifeline for women, girls, and children fleeing abuse, yet they face long waiting lists, increased demand, and chronic underfunding.”
“… paramilitarism plays a dualistic role in (some) women's experiences of IPV. First, paramilitary implicit presence and controls at com munity level is a resource that perpetrators draw from.”
“… women affected by paramilitarism live their lives within a coercive net of implicit and explicit coercion and control that is driven by the histories, status and ongoing organised violence of some paramilitary groups in some communities.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗