Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department holds on the prevalence of (a) forced marriage, (b) domestic abuse and (c) educational disadvantage affecting Muslim women; and what steps her Department is taking to help tackle the (i) cultural and (ii) religious barriers that prevent these women from seeking (A) legal and (B) social support.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales for the year ending March 2024 estimates that 5.2% of Muslim women experienced domestic abuse in the last year, compared to a prevalence rate of 6.6% for the adult female population as a whole. In 2023, the Home Office commissioned a feasibility study to examine whether it is possible to produce robust prevalence estimates for forced marriage. We are currently considering the next steps and will set these out in due course. The Home Office does not collect data related to the educational disadvantage.

We fund a number of organisations for specific victim cohorts, including 'by and for' services supporting specific minority groups, including services for Black and Asian women.