The SDLP is using its Opposition Day on Tuesday to call for urgent action to end violence against women and girls.
Motions will focus on new laws to better support victims of abuse, tackling online violence, RSE and healthy relationships and gender-based budgeting.
The party says the situation is at crisis point with 25 women violently killed in Northern Ireland since 2020.
SDLP Foyle MLA Sinéad McLaughlin said: “It is deeply shameful that Northern Ireland remains one of the most dangerous places to be a woman in Europe.
“We have seen 25 women murdered in recent years, many at the hands of people they knew and trusted, but that is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of violence and abuse.
“Every party here acknowledges the importance of tackling this scourge, but we need to see the Executive doing more to introduce policies and legislation that will address these issues head-on.
“The SDLP is using our Opposition Day on Tuesday to bring forward a number of proposals to keep women safe, including the introduction of new laws that better protect women, on our streets, in their homes and online.
“We also need to see the Executive considering the needs of women as part of their regular decision making, from healthcare to employment, the specific needs of women are often overlooked and the Executive could start by looking at gender-based budgeting that addresses gender inequalities and reflects the needs of women.”
SDLP East Derry MLA Cara Hunter said: “Women can be subject to violence and abuse in every area of their lives. Despite its many positives, for some the internet has become just another avenue to abuse women and exert power over them.
“Whether through trolling, the creation of altered images or stalking, the abuse women receive online can be every bit as harmful as other kinds.
“Women have as much right to feel safe when using the internet as anyone else and the SDLP has repeatedly called for rules and regulations to be put in place to end the online ‘wild west’ and hold people responsible for their actions.
“If we are going to tackle violence against women and girls then education also has a huge role to play.
“We need to be educating young people in our classrooms about what kind of behaviour is and isn’t acceptable, and what a healthy relationship looks like, to stamp out the misogyny that has so long blighted the lives of many women across the North.
“We are all aware of the impact violence against women and girls has on our society and the harm it has caused, but we need to see the Executive parties and others backing our proposals to send a clear message that we are all determined to deliver meaningful change so that women in Northern Ireland no longer have to live their lives in fear.”
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