Jess Phillips, the minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, has said that people who suffered sexual violence during the Troubles “absolutely deserve to have that story told and writ large”. She made the comments while appearing before the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee on Wednesday.
Asked by South Antrim MP Robin Swann whether the use of coercive control, sexual control and rape “as a weapon” during the Troubles should be included in the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill, Ms Phillips said: “Of course, I think that anyone who suffered sexual violence because of conflict that should be taken into account.” However, she warned that such cases are not simple or linear and that she never wants to set up systems that “retraumatise people for no end”.
Addressing the committee, Ms Phillips described violence against women and girls, particularly in Northern Ireland, as a “national emergency” and an “epidemic”. She noted that femicide rates in Northern Ireland are higher than “not just other parts of the United Kingdom but quite a lot of the world”. She also highlighted the influence of paramilitarism on women, saying that when women are part of a cause, “it’s very, very easy for the cause to matter more than anything else”.
The Birmingham Yardley MP drew parallels between honour-based abuse in her constituency and the situation in Northern Ireland, saying: “Honour-based abuse does definitely translate over to the situation in Northern Ireland, undoubtedly, because the issue about not speaking up because of political allegiances is about honour.” She praised the Northern Ireland Executive for building a “victim-centric” policy and expressed admiration for the PSNI’s targeted operations against online sexual offending, as well as its chief constable, Jon Boutcher.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson raised the need for positive male role models, citing the White Ribbon campaign promoted by Larne Football Club. Ms Phillips agreed that role models are “very, very important” and that sport is a “really, really, really important element”. She said she would try to visit Ulster Rugby after hearing about their strategies to encourage girls to participate, joking that she would “start supporting” rugby teams in Northern Ireland.
