Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to support overseas security forces in improving their protection of women from religious minority communities in societies where the persecution of those women is prevalent.

We remain deeply concerned at the severity and scale of violations of Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) in many parts of the world. We recognise that people's religion and gender can increase their vulnerabilities, particularly those from minority groups.

The government is committed to improving the protection of women in volatile situations. In the context of UN Peacekeeping, the UK provides British Peace Support Team training (for Troop Contributing Counties), which includes training on prevention of sexual and gender based violence. The training also includes gender awareness and training.