Friday 21 August 2026

‘Telling silence’ over rise of sexual abuse in Ceuta following migrant invasion slammed by author Joanna Williams

WATCH: Author Joanna Williams slams 'telling silence' over rise in sexual abuse after migrants stormed Spanish city

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GB NEWS

Marcus Donaldson

By Marcus Donaldson


Published: 21/08/2026

- 19:03

Last month, more than 80,000 people stormed the exclave on the Mediterranean coast of Africa

Author Joanna Williams has slammed the “telling silence” over a rise in sexual abuse cases following the migrant invasion in the Spanish city of Ceuta.

Speaking to GB News, she argued that some organisations' efforts to spin migration positively had put vulnerable women and girls at risk.


Last month, more than 80,000 people stormed the exclave on the Mediterranean coast of Africa.

The Spanish army was deployed to restore order and return most of the invaders to neighbouring Morocco.

However, thousands remain in the city, living in squalid and overcrowded conditions.

In the wake of the invasion, the small Spanish community has seen a spike in sexual violence.

In just over a fortnight, the rate of sexual assaults was eight times higher than the norm for Ceuta.

Across 10 of the recent cases, the victims were said to be migrant women who had arrived during the massive July border incursions, as per the Spanish newspaper El Mundo.

Ceuta migrants with Spanish police

There has been a spike in sexual spike in sexual violence in Ceuta after 80,000 migrants stormed the Spanish city

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GETTY

Spanish judicial sources have said women and girls who made the trip were not perilously at risk of attack while living in the inadequate conditions.

“I think the silence around this issue is really telling,” Ms Williams told GB News.

“One of the reasons why is some in our media and political class like to present the view of migrants as being vulnerable.

“We're supposed to feel sorry for migrants, whereas the reality is a lot more depressing.

Ceuta migrants living in tents

Migrants not cleared out by police are living in squalid tent cities

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GETTY

Ceuta migrants living in tents

Female migrants in the city are said to be at great risk of sexual violence

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GETTY

“I think a lot of responsibility needs to be put at the door of international organisations like Amnesty International, Save the Children and Unicef.

“They promote these very positive images of migration and are actually inadvertently encouraging women and girls to join in with mass migration as well.

“They then become very vulnerable when they are left sleeping rough or in camps with men who behave badly towards them,” the author said.

“My worry is the men who are committing these sexual offences in the refugee camps around Ceuta could end up in Spain.

Author Joanna Williams

Author Joanna Williams said there was a 'telling silence' over the issue

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GB NEWS

“From that point onwards, they've got membership of the European Union and are free to travel, potentially turning up in Calais and on a small boat over to the UK.”

Ms Williams said there was “plenty of evidence” of migrant sexual assaults in Britain.

“We've got young men, and some of them do not know not to assault and rape women and girls sexually.”

The author was referring to the national outrage sparked after the Home Office issued materials instructing asylum seekers about sexual assault and the age of consent in the UK.