The government has defended a new Home Office guidance document that explicitly tells asylum seekers that rape, sex with someone under 16 and domestic abuse are serious crimes in the UK, after school standards minister Georgia Gould warned against making "full generalisations" about migrants' attitudes towards women. The nine-page booklet, "Understanding behaviours and expectations in the UK", published on Wednesday, sets out legal and cultural expectations, including gender equality, consent and respect in public, and forms part of a wider effort to avoid "any possible misunderstanding" of what is expected of people seeking asylum.

The guidance warns that breaking these rules could lead to prosecution, loss of asylum support and accommodation, and could jeopardise an asylum claim, while also listing behaviours such as sexual comments, wolf-whistling, following someone or making rude gestures as unacceptable. It states that "consent is needed in every situation" and that women in Britain have the right to work, study, travel and make their own decisions, protected by law. A companion leaflet, "Keeping Children Safe in the UK", flags female genital mutilation and forced child marriage as serious crimes. Gould, speaking to Times Radio, said understanding UK law was the "starting point" for asylum seekers but resisted characterising migrants' attitudes to women as culturally determined, citing her experience with Afghan refugees in Camden. More than 93,000 people claimed asylum in the UK over the relevant period, according to the article.