Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that female asylum seekers who are victims of gender-based violence have access to (a) mental health support and (b) trauma-informed care.

This Government has set out our ambition to halve violence against women and girls within a decade, using every tool available to target perpetrators and address the root causes of violence.

Recognising the mental health challenges faced by people seeking asylum the Home Office has a strategic team focussing on asylum seeker mental health working closely with accommodation providers, NGOs, health partners and lived experience groups to formulate a preventative approach.

This approach consists of mental health and wellbeing grant funding that is disseminated across the UK through Strategic Migration Partnerships and the rollout of a trauma-informed practice programme.

For further information on initiatives please see Asylum mental health: workstreams, tools and case studies (GOV.UK)