NI femicide rates are higher than 'quite a lot of the world'

Femicide rates in Northern Ireland are higher than "quite a lot of the world", but Stormont is not "lagging behind in any particular area", the UK government's minister for tackling violence against women and girls has said.

Jess Phillips was speaking to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee about the government's strategy on the issue.

The safeguarding minister also said the "manosphere is everywhere" as she updated MPs on efforts to address attitudes and behaviours online.

Speaking to the committee on Wednesday, Phillips described violence against women and girls as a "national emergency and an epidemic".

Femicide is broadly defined as the killing of a woman or girl because of her gender.

The manosphere refers to a network of websites, forums and influencers who promote what they describe as "traditional" masculinity - where men hold a dominant role in a relationship and women are subservient.

Phillips added: "I would say really specifically in relation to Northern Ireland what the data shows us is that rates of femicide, so murder and domestic homicide, is higher there than not just other parts of the United Kingdom but quite a lot of the world."

Stormont's Executive Office, jointly led by First Minister Michelle O'Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, launched its Ending Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy in 2024.

Phillips said she did not see "any less care or attention being given to this by the Northern Ireland Executive".

"Northern Ireland is run by two women. I don't doubt their desire to spend money on violence against women and girls and their commitment to it having interacted with them both on this issue," she told MPs.

Phillips was also complimentary of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Chief Constable Jon Boutcher.

She said she met him "very early on" and was "really impressed" with some of the PSNI's work in targeting sexual offending online.

"I call a spade a spade - I find him a decent man who cares about the right things," she said.

Phillips said most of the government's strategy applied to England and Wales, but aspects on issues such as immigration and online safety applied across the UK.

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Gavin Robinson told Phillips he recently watched journalist Louis Theroux's Netflix documentary Inside the Manosphere.

The east Belfast MP said it involved "some ticky-tocky type idiot", adding: "He was a balloon - they were all balloons."

Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) MP Robin Swann asked Phillips about the impact on the treatment of women of the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

She replied: "It's a really important point, and it was one that while I was in Northern Ireland was raised with me on a number of occasions with regards certainly to the influence of paramilitarism still over women in Northern Ireland."

The minister described it as another matter to consider "in some of the abuse and violence and aggression".

"Although as Gavin has pointed out quite clearly, the manosphere is everywhere," she added.