Order Paper

1.   Prayers


2.   Members’ Statements

3.   Question Time

3.1     Communities

4.   Opposition Business

Motion: Ending Violence Against Women and Girls

Proposed:

That this Assembly expresses horror at the epidemic of violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland; expresses regret that several recommendations made in the Gillen Review, Report into the Law and Procedures in Serious Sexual Offences in Northern Ireland, particularly those relating to reforming laws around the defence of reasonable belief and to introducing pre-trial jury education, have not been implemented; and calls on the Minister of Justice to introduce pre-trial jury education and to bring forward legislation to reform the legal definition of reasonable belief, in line with the Gillen Review, by the end of the 2022-2027 mandate.

Leader of the Opposition

Motion: Tackling Online Violence Against Women and Girls

Proposed:

That this Assembly expresses alarm at the growing issue of online violence against women and girls, particularly the increasing use of deepfake imagery; notes that deepfake abuse disproportionately targets women, with studies indicating that over 90 per cent of non-consensual deepfake imagery involves female victims; acknowledges that current legislative frameworks are unfit in addressing emerging forms of online abuse, such as deepfake technology; calls on the Minister of Justice to commission a comprehensive review of existing criminal law on online violence against women and girls to ensure all forms of abuse are adequately captured and dealt with; and further calls on the Minister to write to the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, requesting a clear timeline for the introduction of legislation to adequately criminalise deepfake abuse.

Leader of the Opposition

Motion: Relationships and Sexuality Education and Healthy Young Adult Relationships

Proposed:

That this Assembly affirms the importance of Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) in fostering healthy young adult relationships and mitigating against violence against women and girls; acknowledges the findings of Ulster University’s Healthy Young Adult Relationships Project report, which highlights that RSE is not currently fit for purpose, particularly in addressing coercive control; and calls on the Minister of Education to work with the Minister of Justice to establish a task force with the purpose of enhancing RSE to include healthy relationships and ways to prevent violence against women and girls, and to review and implement the recommendations of the Healthy Young Adult Relationships Project report no later than December 2025.

Leader of the Opposition

Motion: Gender-Responsive Budgeting

Proposed:

That this Assembly recognises the role of gender-responsive budgeting in addressing systemic gender inequalities, enhancing the effectiveness of public expenditure, and improving public scrutiny; notes with concern that previous budgets and programmes for government have not adequately supported the advancement of gender equality, resulting in missed opportunities to address and reduce gender disparities; and calls on the Minister of Finance to work with Executive colleagues to introduce comprehensive gender-responsive budgeting measures for the 2025-2026 Budget, including the introduction of thorough gender impact assessments, the allocation of resources to proactively address and reduce gender inequalities, and the use of transparent monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to assess measures aimed at improving gender equality.

Leader of the Opposition

5.   Adjournment

• Integrated Education Provision in South Belfast

Ms Paula Bradshaw