Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the level of under-reporting of sexual assault in prison.

Data on reported sexual assaults are published annually in the safety in custody statistics, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/safety-in-custody-statistics.

We acknowledge that prisoners may be reluctant to report such assaults, and are aware that some other sources, such as surveys by HM Inspector of Prisons, have shown a higher rate.

We take any allegation of sexual assault extremely seriously. All incidents that are reported as sexual assault are referred to the police for investigation. We provide a range of support to those who report them and take appropriate action to prevent repeat victimisation.