Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have raised the caning of women for breaking dress codes with the governments of (1) Sudan, (2) Saudi Arabia, and (3) Iran; and, if so, what responses they have received from those governments.

Respect for human rights and democratic freedoms underpins the UK's foreign policy. Our Annual Human Rights Report sets out in detail the UK's approach to human rights priority countries, and the work we have undertaken to promote and protect human rights around world. The UK Government has designated 30 countries as Human Rights Priority Countries, these include Sudan, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

UK Ministers and officials consistently raise a range of human rights issues with their counterparts. The UK welcomes the steps taken by the transitional Government of Sudan in this area, including the repeal of the public order law in 2019, removing corporal punishment for the violation of dress codes.