THERE was welcome news in Stormont last week when Minister John O’Dowd said he would implement “Jade’s Law”.

This would automatically remove the parental responsibility of anyone convicted of the murder or voluntary manslaughter of a co-parent.

Most of us would probably have assumed you lost your parental rights automatically when you murdered your child’s other parent. No such luck.

One case in England saw a man who stabbed his wife 36 times spend four years in prison for manslaughter and on his release, was given full custody of his six year-old daughter.

She now campaigns for Jade’s Law to be implemented in England.

The change to the law is a no-brainer anywhere. In the north, it’s essential.

Domestic violence is our cross-community common ground. Women and girls are beaten and killed in this place with such regularity that I’ve had to stop writing columns mentioning it because I’m running out of new ways to say this is an emergency.

O’Dowd’s move is the right one, but it’s not going to stop violence against women. That’s a bigger job and one Stormont realistically cannot solve.

The cost of domestic and sexual violence in Northern Ireland is estimated at almost a billion pounds a year. Women’s Aid service provision is less than 1% of this.

Countries with lower rates of domestic violence have certain things in common: more women in leadership positions, affordable or free........

© The Irish News