Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to reduce violence against women in developing countries.

I am proud of the leadership role that the UK has played on tackling violence against women and children world-wide, and it will continue to be a key priority for my Department. We have increased programmes that tackle violence against women and girls by over 60% in the past two years, and now support 103 programmes in 29 countries.

DFID works to prevent and respond to violence against children across a wide range of humanitarian and development programmes, from our flagship £35 million investment in ending female genital mutilation, to our support to the No Lost Generation Initiative, through which the UK is funding education and psychosocial support for Syrian children to protect them from violence, abuse and exploitation.