A Northern Ireland MP has described herself as a “survivor of abuse” while speaking in the Commons, as she told MPs of her experience of receiving rape threats.
Alliance MP Sorcha Eastwood said a member of the public “came up and said they wanted to rape me” during a school visit she was leading at Northern Ireland’s Stormont.
Ms Eastwood was visibly emotional as she spoke about her experience of abuse in Parliament for the first time.
During the debate on violence against women and girls, Ms Eastwood also raised concerns about incel culture, an online group who describe themselves as “involuntary celibates”.
The Lagan Valley MP began her speech saying: “I am a survivor of abuse myself. Northern Ireland is one of the most dangerous places in Europe to be a woman, I have to say I’m really upset that there are no other members from Northern Ireland here.”
She added: “Statistically speaking there will be people in this building who are the perpetrators, more often the people doing this are people we know, people we love, and that’s what makes it even more traumatic, upsetting, and disgusting.”
Ms Eastwood continued: “One thing that really, really disturbs me, terrifies me for my life, is incel culture.
“I am an elected rep in Northern Ireland, I stood for election the first time in 2017 and that was when I received my first rape threat, my first.
“That should not be normal and in recent days previous members have sought to put forward a narrative that that should be taken as part and parcel, not just of public life, but particularly of the life of elected reps in this House.”
In response to this, MPs from across the House could be heard saying “shame”.
Ms Eastwood continued: “We previously did a lot of visits to the Northern Ireland Parliament building Stormont whenever I sat there in the Northern Ireland Assembly, and during one school visit a member of the public came up and said they wanted to rape me.
“And there were two people there and we just kind of were paralysed with the response, and that was not the right response. Not from me, but from the people around.”
Ms Eastwood also argued that Northern Ireland is behind other countries when it comes to violence against women and girls, because of its “troubled past”.
She added: “We are having to deal with that legacy of trauma and conflict, layered on top of that we are having to deal with the issues that every other woman and girl across the globe is facing.”
Following her contribution in the chamber, safeguarding minister Jess Phillips approached Ms Eastwood and gave her a hug.
Liberal Democrat Sarah Olney and Conservative MP Dame Karen Bradley also appeared to offer their support.
During the debate, shadow equalities minister Mims Davies said the Government should be more ambitious in its aims for tackling violence against women and girls, calling for it to be eliminated completely.
She said: “I do appreciate the focus on halving violence against women and girls, that’s not enough. Let’s focus on pure eradication. And that is one thing that all sides of this House can agree on.”
Justice minister Alex Davies-Jones said the extent of violence against women and girls is “intolerable” and branded the problem a national emergency.
She said: “The scale of violence against women in this country is intolerable, a national emergency, so I welcome the opportunity for this House to unite and debate it today.
“Tackling violence against women and girls in all its forms is a top priority for this Government, and central to our wider mission to make this country’s streets safer.”
Ms Davies-Jones went on to condemn threats against her ministerial colleague Ms Phillips, describing them as “absolutely abhorrent”, adding: “They demonstrate all too clearly the way that some men view women’s place in the world.”
This comes after US billionaire Elon Musk described the Home Office minister as a “rape genocide apologist” after she declined a request from Oldham Council for a Whitehall-led inquiry into child sexual abuse in the town.
In a reference to Mr Musk’s tweet, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said “a line has been crossed” and Ms Phillips and others had received threats as a result of the “poison of the far-right”.
Many MPs spoke out in support of Ms Phillips in the Commons, including Dame Karen, Tory MP for Staffordshire Moorlands, who said she had “immense sympathy for what she is going through”.
