Stormont politicians have opened up on their personal experiences of misogyny in a bid to call for societal change in Northern Ireland.
At a seminar on Monday, December 5, looking at the Scottish model for preventing misogynistic crime and exploring how this could be applied in Northern Ireland, event sponsors Naomi Long, Diane Forsythe, and Sinéad Ennis opened up on how they have experienced misogyny both in work and every day life.
Earlier this year, a report in Scotland, authored by Baroness Helena Kennedy KC, provided a blueprint for tackling misogynistic crime through criminal law.
Read more: PFNI unhappy as Policing Board propose public misconduct hearings for officers
In Northern Ireland, the Department of Justice recently conducted a consultation seeking views on the inclusion of misogyny in relation to a future hate crime bill, following an independent review of hate crime legislation.
At the event on Monday, Baroness Kennedy presented on the new Scottish model and reflected on how it could potentially be applied in Northern Ireland.
As part of this and the wider discussion about how to tackle misogyny, some politicians shared their personal experiences about how misogyny has impacted them.
The DUP's Diane Forysthe opened up on how she has experienced different forms of misogyny throughout her working life.
Most recently, Ms Forsythe was the victim of a "vile attack" during the election campaign in May, wherein a falsified pornography video purporting to show her was circulated on social media.
While she was studying Law at Queen's University 20 years ago, Ms Forsythe did her case work on women's rights.
She said: "It's sad we're here now talking about these same issues 20 years on."
"Things aren't where they need to be," Ms Forsythe added. "I received a lot of online abuse during the election, including the falsification of pornography and its sharing.
"No matter what divides us, women across Northern Ireland supported me. I think we are united across this issue.
"We need a cultural change from all sectors of society to combat this."
Sinn Fein's Sinéad Ennis echoed this position, adding that there is "much more work to be done" on combating misogyny in Northern Ireland. She highlighted that the Executive needs to get back around the table as soon as possible so legislative change can be made.
"Work as vital as this needs to start now," Ms Ennis added.
"Violence against women and girls and threats of it cast a dark shadow. It's causing an epidemic in our society.
"Women deserve protection in laws so they have the confidence to report threats."
Alliance leader Naomi Long said a key issue is online abuse women in public positions often receive from anonymous accounts.
She said there is a need for wider "cultural change" to tackle the "debilitating abuse" women are often at the receiving end of. Acknowledging there is "a lot of work to do" to solve this challenge, she said it is something we can work towards as a society.
Ms Long said: "In terms of my own life, when I was born in 1971 my mum had to leave work as it was the law then. It was 1990 before marital rape was viewed as against the law.
"It has taken to 2022 to get access to reproductive rights. It isn't good enough that it takes us so long.
"I'm not willing to wait another 20 years not just for me but for the younger generations. All parties must work together to bring the kind of radical change women and girls need.
"It is not good enough when misogyny is dismissed as 'boys will be boys'; boys will be men and that is the danger if we don't change things. The time for change is now. We need to be radical in our progress."
The most recent statistics show that more women are murdered in Northern Ireland as a result of domestic violence than in any other part of western Europe per head of capita.
Last week, new figures released by the PSNI showed that during the December and January holiday periods last year, police received a call every 16 minutes related to domestic abuse.
Earlier this year, the Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act (Northern Ireland) 2021 came into effect, which lists "non-physical abusive behaviour" as an offence.
The report, Misogyny - A Human Rights Issue, produced by the Working Group on Misogyny and Criminal Justice in Scotland and authored by Baroness Helena Kennedy KC can be found by clicking here.
READ NEXT:
- Naomi Long: Michaela McAreavey video reminder of "deep cancer of sectarianism"
- Mum's 'year of hell' as children taken from her due to risks of abusive partner
- Women's Aid slams Executive as cost-of-living crisis 'traps women'
- UUP man told court woman-beater made 'positive difference'
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here. To sign up to our FREE newsletters, see here.
