Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps has she taken to ensure the safety of women detained in immigration detention centres.

The Government keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review, in consultation with a range of experts and stakeholders.

We remain focused on the specific needs for women in our care and all our immigration removal centres (IRCs) are operated in line with the Detention Centre Rules 2001, published operating standards for IRCs and Detention Services Orders; a framework which ensures the safety and security of those detained in our care.

All staff working with women receive appropriate gender specific training, in addition to any generic training they receive when they undergo initial training. This includes equality and diversity, human trafficking, and modern slavery. Detention Services Order 06/2016 ‘Women in the immigration removal estate’ sets out the processes that are undertaken in IRCs to ensure that the needs of women are identified and appropriately met and their rights to dignity and privacy are upheld. In addition, all Home Office staff working in the detention system are given training and support to identify and act upon indicators of vulnerability at the earliest opportunity.