Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to assist the Kurdistan Regional Government to prevent sexual violence by Islamic State against Yazidi women and to provide medical, psychological, and other support to survivors of this violence.

The British Government continues to condemn in the strongest terms the atrocities committed by the self-styled Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) against all communities throughout the areas under its control. We are working closely with the Iraqi government, the Kurdistan Regional government and our international coalition partners to assist and protect civilians wherever we can.

From 7-14 November, the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) conducted a joint scoping mission to Erbil and Baghdad with the Government of Canada. This aimed to better understand the scale of the issue and the services being provided in response to inform UK and Canadian policy and support. Through the Department for International Development we are already funding activities to protect vulnerable civilians such as legal assistance and support groups for women within internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps in the Kurdistan Region. We are continuing to explore what further support we might be able to provide to vulnerable groups and IDPs.

We welcome the commitments that Prime Minister al-Abadi has made to inclusivity, to protecting Iraqi citizens, addressing human rights abuses and holding those responsible to account.