Mahmood warns of sexual violence on Channel route

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said women preparing to cross the Channel from northern France had probably been raped during their journeys, linking the risk of sexual violence to criminal gangs and people traffickers who select people for small-boat crossings. Her remarks were an assessment; the reports provided no underlying data or independent evidence establishing how prevalent assault is. In an interview on The Rest Is Politics podcast, Mahmood said that “almost every woman” in northern France preparing to make the crossing had probably been raped. She added that some men had also been abused or threatened. Mahmood argued that traffickers should not determine who can reach Britain to seek sanctuary, saying the current process left the government without control over who reached the coast. Her comments concern people at the northern France stage of the route, not a verified count of women who have crossed or been assaulted. The reports did not include individual accounts, a methodology or other evidence to measure the scale of sexual violence. The repeated accounts of Mahmood’s estimate trace back to the same podcast interview and do not independently establish its accuracy.