Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the findings in the report, Sexual IPV and non-partner rape of female sex workers: Findings of a cross-sectional community-centric national study in South Africa, published by SSM - Mental Health in December 2021, what recent support she has offered to the Government of South Africa to address the reported high levels of (a) rape and (b) other physical assault by police officers against female sex workers in that country.

The UK shares President Ramaphosa's grave concerns about the level of gender-based violence in South Africa. That is why we provided £1.3 million to South Africa's COVID19 Solidarity Fund to support 321 community-based organisations to respond to gender-based violence during the pandemic. At the end of 2021 the UK announced a contribution of £500,000 to South Africa's private sector-led Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Response Fund (GBVF Fund), which was launched in February 2021 and is also supporting the work of Women's Rights Organisations in this area. The GBVF Fund aims to help deliver the 2020 National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide, which includes support for vulnerable groups such as sex workers.