A Northern Ireland MP has described herself as a "survivor of abuse" while speaking in the House of Commons in London and outlined her experience of receiving rape threats.
Sorcha Eastwood, of the Alliance Party, said a member of the public "came up and said they wanted to rape me" during a school visit she was leading at Parliament Buildings in Stormont.
She was visibly emotional as she spoke in the House of Commons about her experience of abuse for the first time.
During a debate on violence against women and girls, Ms Eastwood also raised concerns about incel culture, an online group who describe themselves as "involuntary celibates".
The Lagan Valley MP began her speech saying: "I am a survivor of abuse myself. Northern Ireland is one of the most dangerous places in Europe to be a woman. I have to say I’m really upset that there are no other members from Northern Ireland here.
"Eight women were murdered last year. Over 20 in the last four (years).
"But why should I feel like this? It should be the people that are out there perpetrating these crimes. People that are in this building, people that are everywhere.
"Statistically speaking there will be people in this building who are the perpetrators, more often the people doing this are people we know, people we love, and that’s what makes it even more traumatic, upsetting, and disgusting.
"One thing that really, really disturbs me, terrifies me for my life, is incel culture," Ms Eastwood said.
"I am an elected rep in Northern Ireland, I stood for election the first time in 2017 and that was when I received my first rape threat, my first.
"That should not be normal and in recent days previous members have sought to put forward a narrative that that should be taken as part and parcel, not just of public life, but particularly of the life of elected reps in this house."
MPs could be heard saying "shame" in response to the comments.
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Ms Eastwood said: "We previously did a lot of visits to the Northern Ireland Parliament building Stormont whenever I sat there in the Northern Ireland Assembly, and during one school visit a member of the public came up and said they wanted to rape me.
"There were two people there and we just kind of were paralysed with the response, and that was not the right response. Not from me, but from the people around."
Ms Eastwood also argued that Northern Ireland is behind other jurisdictions when it comes to violence against women and girls, because of its "troubled past".
She added: "We are having to deal with that legacy of trauma and conflict, layered on top of that we are having to deal with the issues that every other woman and girl across the globe is facing."
Following her contribution, Jess Phillips, the UK government's safeguarding minister, approached Ms Eastwood and gave her a hug.
Conservative MP Karen Bradley - a former Northern Ireland secretary - also offered her support.
