Amnesty International, working as part of the End Violence Against Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights Campaign, today launches a damning new report, Making the Grade 2. This new report awards the Northern Ireland Office a score of just one out of ten for its policies and practices for tackling violence against Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights. The Government overall was awarded a mark of two out of ten.

The report will be launched at 2.30pm in the Long Gallery, Stormont. This launch will be accompanied by a discussion facilitated by an all-party panel of politicians outlining the response of the Northern Ireland parties to this state of affairs.

Making The Grade 2 concludes that the failure to adopt a strategic approach across Government accounts for this dismal picture. This first independent assessment of Government efforts to “join up” work on violence against Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights in Northern Ireland shows that there is a failure to ensure that Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights are safe.

With violence against Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights at crisis levels in Northern Ireland, the End Violence Against Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights Campaign surveyed the Northern Ireland Office as part of the wider report which scrutinised each Government department.

Patricia Campbell, of Amnesty International Northern Ireland, said:

“Every day there are media reports of Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights and girls are being beaten up, raped or killed or committing suicide as a result of male violence. The direct rule NIO is failing dismally to address this problem in any sort of integrated fashion.

"Amnesty, Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights's Aid and others in the End Violence Against Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights campaign will continue to make an annual assessment of the Government’s work to end all forms of violence against Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights in Northern Ireland. We hope to see a radical improvement across the board in time for next year’s report - whether we are under direct rule or devolution - and we call on all local politicians to commit themselves to this end. The Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights of Northern Ireland deserve nothing less.”

Violence against Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights includes domestic violence, forced marriage, crimes in the name of honour, rape and sexual assault, trafficking, female genital mutilation, sexual harassment and stalking. Key findings of the report are:

• Across government departments work on violence against Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights is 'patchy' and not joined up. There is little evidence of work between government departments resulting in a failure to share vital information
• Many parts of government still perceive violence against Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights as limited to domestic violence, resulting in a failure to develop policies and provide resources for other forms of violence, including rape and sexual assault, forced marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM)
• Services for victims are seriously under-funded and there is a post-code lottery facing Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights who need support.
• No part of government has yet begun to address seriously the prevention of violence against Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights, for example there is minimal work with Children's rights and young people to challenge attitudes that tolerate violence against Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights.

More about our Women's rights's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights campaign