16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence brings renewed focus to ending violence against women and girls, says Egan
Alliance North Down MLA Connie Egan has said that gender based violence has no place in our society, adding this year’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence (25th November to 10th December) theme of ‘No Excuse for Online Abuse’ is particularly important as we see a rise in deepfake videos of women.
Ms Egan has said: “This year, the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence focuses on protections within online and digital spaces, through the theme ‘No Excuse for Online Abuse’.
This theme is particularly important as AI continues to develop at a rapid and unprecedented pace, and it is essential we ensure women and girls have adequate protections from online abuse.
“According to UN Women, between 90-95 per cent of deepfake videos online are sexual images of women and there is substantial evidence highlighting that the consumption of pornography can exacerbate harmful sexual behaviours towards women and girls.
“The PSNI have reported that there were 29,740 domestic abuse incidents in Northern Ireland between 1st July 2024 and the 30th June 2025.
These statistics are a stark reminder of the need to promote positive, healthy relationships, and to ensure that violent and abusive behaviour is not tolerated within our society.
“Alliance Justice Minister, Naomi Long, has delivered a range of legislative and strategic reforms designed to tackle domestic abuse and gender based violence.
Further legislation is also being brought forward to criminalise the creation and sharing of sexually explicit deepfake images depicting adults. These steps, among others, are designed to protect victims and to transform the justice system’s response to instances of gender based violence.
“Gender based violence has no place in our society and we must take a whole society approach to ending it.
“I will continue to work with others to ensure that victims are properly supported and have access to the support that they need whilst holding perpetrators to account.”
