Violence against Women and Girls: Plymouth

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Wednesday 25th January 2023 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the hon. Member for South West Devon (Sir Gary Streeter)—the Member for Plymouth during the 1990s—for setting the scene so well and for leading the debate. It seems that all too often we hear stories in the news about violent, sexual or domestic attacks on women and girls. First of all, we are all here to support the hon. Gentleman. I know that I do not represent Plymouth, but I represent an area in Strangford, Northern Ireland that has, I am sorry to say, the worst levels of attacks on women and girls in all of the United Kingdom—they are horrendous. With great pain, I want to add my support on this issue.

I am of a generation—I suspect you are as well, Mr Pritchard, as well as the hon. Member for South West Devon. You are probably a couple of years younger than me, but I suspect not by very much. We were a generation that had the utmost respect for women. I am from a generation that would open a door for a lady, stand and let her pass by. I am from a generation that would give up a seat for a lady or girl. I am of a generation that respected ladies—that is just me, but I suspect there are many others from my generation who are the same. Social media, as the hon. Member for Pontypridd (Alex Davies-Jones) mentioned, has destroyed the attitude of some young people towards girls and ladies. I find it quite horrendous.

I understand the debate is centred around violence against women and girls in Plymouth, but I want to give the Northern Irish experience where it has proven to be extreme. In 2021, Northern Ireland was named the most dangerous place for women in Europe. Only Romania matches our grim toll across the whole of Europe of 0.43 killings per 100,000 inhabitants, which is three times that of England and Wales. Women and girls in Northern Ireland are disproportionately affected by violence, abuse and intimidation. From April 2021 to March 2022 in Northern Ireland, women made up 78% of all victims of sexual crimes—my goodness, these stats are terrible—68% of domestic abuse, 64% of harassment and 95% of stalking crimes. I know the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley (Jess Phillips), will speak, and she will know the stats. It is no joy for me to stand here and say that.

Most notably and very recently, we have heard of the news of the murder of Natalie McNally. I give my sincere sympathies to the family for all they are going through. She was a 32-year-old woman from Lurgan who was 15 weeks pregnant with a baby boy. She was stabbed multiple times, losing her life and that of her unborn baby too, sadly, and still nobody has been charged with the murder. There are countless reports of women being abused, assaulted and murdered, and the volume of stories is just unheard of. I deal in my office with cases of domestic abuse every week—society seems to reflect that unfortunately—and we have to deal with cases of verbal and physical abuse as well. The hon. Member for South West Devon and the initiative he is taking in Plymouth are something to stand by.

I understand that organisations and charities in Plymouth have embarked on 16 days of activism to raise awareness of and prevent violence against women and girls, and that a new men’s group aims to ensure that boys and men play their part, too. How much do we need that work in society today, not just in Plymouth but everywhere? Such steps are crucial and they must be taken to give women a voice and reassure them that there is protection for them out there.

There has been a significant rise in the number of cases involving violence against women in the last few years. Historically, that has been because men feel—wrongly—that they can get away with these things, as women are not encouraged to report them. Everyone in this House, including those who are in Westminster Hall today, is here to speak up for women—for ladies—and for girls, and to make it very clear that there are not enough arrests or convictions. The figures are severely lacking.

I conclude by thanking the hon. Member for South West Devon for leading this very important and timely debate. I will take note of the initiative in Plymouth for us back home; it might be something that we can do with as well. I have hope that we, as policymakers in this place, can play our part to raise awareness of these crimes and do more to ensure that women and girls feel comfortable and reassured about coming forward. That is what I am about; I think that is what everybody here is about.