To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which prisoners in custody in England and Wales are victims of rape or other sexual violence. [HL2466]

Prisons have a responsibility to keep prisoners and staff safe. The management of violence, including sexual violence, and its reduction is central to successful prison management. It is fundamental to the objectives of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) and vital to achieving the broad aims of safer custody. NOMS has in place a local violence reduction strategy which is currently under review.

NOMS records numbers of all types of sexual assault incidents in prison but does not have a separate offence classification of rape. In the financial year 2008-09—the latest data available—124 sexual assaults were recorded on the NOMS incident reporting system. Analysis has shown that over 90 per cent of sexual assaults occur in male prisons. This figure includes proven and unproven allegations and is subject to change because some alleged incidents are removed or reclassified following further investigation.