Question

To ask the Ministers for Women and Equalities, what recent discussions she has had with her international counterparts on protecting the rights of women and girls overseas.

I have recently returned from the US where I had a meeting with the Executive Director of UN Women and others active in the field to discuss the Commission on the Status of Women that will be held in March next year. This is the principal global event on womens’ rights organised by the UN.

In the summer we hosted two global events – a summit with a focus on preventing sexual violence in conflict, which generated strong international support; and a girl summit, which brought together a range of international stakeholders to accelerate momentum in tackling child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.