AQW 20108/17-22


Mr John Blair
Alliance Party
South Antrim


Tabled Date: 08/06/2021
Answered On Date: 17/06/2021
Priority Written: No


Question:
To ask the Minister of Justice to detail any discussions she has had with her counterparts in the Irish government on cross-border cooperation to dispel rape myths in the justice system.


Answer:
I recognise how important it is to ensure that victims of sexual violence and abuse are treated fairly, and that the general public and jury members are not influenced by inaccurate and damaging myths. I also recognise that there is much that we can learn and benefit from through collaboration with Irish counterparts on this issue.
Ongoing work to dispel rape myths and on wider issues of consent have been subject to discussion through the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) on Cooperation on Criminal Justice Matters, which provides the structured framework for North/South cooperation to enhance and develop more effective co-operation and co-ordination on criminal justice matters between the two jurisdictions.
A key objective of the IGA work programme is to share information and learning on addressing sexual violence, including consideration and implementation of recommendations arising from the reviews of Sir John Gillen and Tom O’Malley B.L. into how their respective jurisdictions deal with serious sexual offences.
At the IGA meeting in November, we agreed that the Support for Victims North / South Project Advisory Group, a Working Group made of officials from my Department and the Department of Justice (Ireland), will consider areas that could be jointly addressed including a programme to challenge the myths around consent as well as issues regarding “revenge porn” and the disclosure of private images.
My Department is leading cross sectoral work within Northern Ireland, focused on implementing the Gillen Review’s recommendation for a campaign to raise awareness on issues such as consent, healthy relationships and rape myths. As part of this, my officials have used the Project Advisory Group, to engage with their counterparts in Department of Justice (Ireland) who are working on the O’Malley recommendation for an awareness campaign specifically relating to consent in order to share best practice and lessons learned.
Rape Crisis Dublin are assisting the Department of Justice (Ireland) with this work and are carrying out research and a literature review on existing campaign effectiveness, what language should be used, what is acceptable etc. to start the conversations in society on what consent means. We have agreed that the findings of any research commissioned by either Department should be shared so we can work in tandem and ensure our messaging is consistent.