UK home secretary warns of sexual violence against women making Channel crossings

UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has claimed nearly all women attempting to reach Britain in small boats from northern France have been raped during their journey.

Speaking on The Rest Is Politics podcast, Mahmood said criminal gangs and people traffickers were exploiting asylum seekers trying to reach the UK.

“You can almost guarantee that every woman that’s in the north of France has probably been raped along the journey. Some of the men too, they’ve certainly been abused and threatened,” Mahmood said.

She argued the UK needed greater control over who could enter the country rather than allowing trafficking gangs to determine who reaches the Channel.

Mahmood also criticised far-right activists who have protested against immigration, saying they would “kill” or “kick me out of my own country” if they gained power.

“They’re just troublemakers. They don’t think I’m a true Brit and they hate the fact that I’m a Muslim”, she said.