Committee publication · Correspondence · 18 June 2025

Correspondence with Women's Aid Federation Northern Ireland relating to ending violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland, dated 11 June 2025.

From: Northern Ireland Affairs Committee

Inquiry: Ending violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland

Summary

Women's Aid Federation Northern Ireland submitted this briefing paper to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in June 2025 on ending violence against women and girls. The organisation outlines its 40+ year track record as the lead VAWG provider, identifies major barriers to victim support (including unimplemented legislation, court delays, insufficient trauma training, and resource gaps), and describes its prevention-focused work across schools and professional training.

Key findings

Since 2020, 26 women have been murdered in Northern Ireland, 25 by current/ex intimate partners or male relatives, indicating a high femicide risk requiring urgent societal intervention.
Multiple unimplemented aspects of the Domestic Abuse & Civil Proceedings Act (NI) 2021 remain outstanding, including Domestic Abuse Protection Orders and Notices.
Declining numbers of Non-Molestation Orders granted in recent years, coupled with breaches not being taken seriously by authorities, create protection gaps.
Major delays in criminal justice for domestic abuse cases deter victims from engaging; concerns exist that convicted perpetrators may not face custodial sentences.
Widespread lack of trauma-informed training across key stakeholders (PSNI, courts, health services) hampers recognition and response to domestic abuse and sexual offences.
Women's Aid has trained 1,756 teachers across 600 primary schools in preventative education; proposes extending this model to post-primary and third-level education.

Tone

Critical

Topics

domestic-abuseviolence-against-womencriminal-justicelegal-protectionsafeguarding

Key actors

Women's Aid Federation Northern Ireland, Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (EVAWG) Strategy, The Executive Office (TEO), Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), Public Prosecution Service (PPS), Lady Chief Justice, Justice Minister, Victims Commissioner

Notable line

“Since 2020, 26 women have been murdered in Northern Ireland, 25 of whom were murdered by a man who was suspected to be a current/ex intimate partner or another male relative.”

Key Quotes

“Women's Aid believes the best way to eliminate VAWG in society is to prevent it from happening. This is the only way to shift the narrative and create lasting change.”
— Women's Aid Federation Northern Ireland · Explaining the organisation's strategic approach to ending violence against women and girls

“Major concern is also in relation to sexual offences not being proceeded with in relation to domestic abuse cases.”
— Women's Aid Federation Northern Ireland · Identifying gaps in criminal justice response to domestic abuse

“There is a comprehensive and widespread lack of core trauma informed training of key stakeholders as well as wider sections of society to dispel myths around domestic abuse and sexual offences.”
— Women's Aid Federation Northern Ireland · Describing systemic capacity gaps

“… recommendations. To date 1,756 teachers representing 600 primary schools have been trained. This has been adopted across ROI and UK, as a model of best practice.”
— Women's Aid Federation Northern Ireland · Demonstrating impact and scale of preventative education work

“We are post-conflict society and finally have violence with the home and especially against women and girls recognised and actioned is a seismic shift, although this has been the focus of Women's Aid work over the last 50 years.”
— Women's Aid Federation Northern Ireland · Reflecting on the significance of the EVAWG strategy in post-conflict Northern Ireland

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Source · parliament.uk record ↗