Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Bill [HL]

I, too, welcome the fact that this provision is being extended to Northern Ireland. I want to raise a couple of points. Northern Ireland is perhaps not a jurisdiction that we have control over now, but it appears that we have some control over its future destiny, which looks very bright; I welcome that. Last year, we undertook with some Muslim women a discussion with women in Northern Ireland. They are great champions of women, and theyhave moved the discussion of women’s issues far ahead. I have enormous confidence that women’s organisations exist. However, I am not quite sure how far work has progressed on race discrimination and religious discrimination, given Northern Ireland’s history. I know that I share with the Committee the particular concern that the number of hate attacks, particularly against Asians, have tripled over the past few years in Northern Ireland. That is a great concern. I would worry about such legislation being simply in a vacuum, with not enough work being done to raise awareness of this issue. Perhaps there is a lack of knowledge in this area compared to how fortunate we have been in this country in terms of awareness. I hope that, with the message that the Minister takes forward to the Assembly, people there will welcome some of the work that we have undertaken here, and maybe there will be opportunity for proper discussion and debate. I welcome that there will be a discussion on 24 May. I know that there may be others who, like me, would be interested in contributing to some of the development phases of what looks like a common standard.