March 13th, 2026

It was heartening to see the numbers of people attending the International Women’s Day Rally on Saturday on the theme of solidarity with the women of Palestine and across the world, and the participation of political parties and most of the parties in the Executive.

But we have to ask what will they do to improve the lives of women in Northern Ireland? Will they implement the Safe Leave legislation they promised? Will they introduce the Workers’ Rights Bill that will impact positively on women in the workplace.? Will they even the playing field when it comes to thirty hours free childcare.

Will they introduce the Good Jobs legislation or the Anti-Poverty strategy or any other of the promises they made. Since the march on Saturday another young woman has been found dead in her home, will the Justice Department and the Executive bring forward legislation to introduce a Femicide Law.? Will those politicians who sit on the policing board and the Justice Department take a serious look at the report from the Police Ombudsman’s Office on the sexual predators within the Northern Ireland Police Service and route them out, once and for all. The fact that one of the victims was only a fourteen-year-old child, should send shock waves through the system, and calls for immediate action and a detailed plan to show victims of abuse that the police can be trusted to deal with the crimes committed against them, and not add to their trauma.

Perhaps in the interim a number of Women Police officers should be trained to deal with domestic abuse and violence. The fact that these vulnerable women and girls were abused by those who should have been a source of protection and support, is outrageous. One victim is one too many when it comes to those entrusted with the protection of vulnerable victims by the system.