New report details the damaging psychological effects of detention at Yarl's Wood immigration detention centre on female asylum seekers
Women for Refugee Women has released a new report looking at the experiences of women who came to the UK to seek asylum and were detained in the Yarl's Wood immigration detention centre.
You can read the 36-page report here.
Media coverage of the report can be found in the Daily Mail, the Guardian and the Independent and focused on the report's claims that detainees at Yarl's Wood are routinely humiliated and treated like animals.
Accusations of the sexual abuse of female detainees by members of staff at Yarl's Wood were previously widely reported and Women for Refugee Women notes that 10 staff were dismissed in June 2014 following an investigation by the centre's management.
Today's report closely examined the experiences of 38 women detained at Yarl's Wood, and Women for Refugee Women says its research suggests that the intimidation of women in Yarl's Wood does not start and end with sexual assault, with almost every woman speaking of other ways in which they felt their privacy was invaded, especially by the male staff.
The report stated: "Almost all of them said that men watched them in intimate situations such as while naked, partly dressed, in the shower or on the toilet. Of the 38 women, 33 stated that they experienced men seeing them in these situations. Three did not answer, one was on the family wing with her husband, and only one stated this never happened to her. Of these 33, 13 said that men saw them naked, 29 said men saw them partially dressed, 29 said that men saw them in bed, 16 said men saw them in the shower and 14 said men saw them using the toilet. Nineteen of the women we spoke to were on suicide watch for some or all of their time in Yarl's Wood. For them, the invasions of privacy felt particularly extreme, as they were watched continuously night and day, and even told not to cover their faces while they slept. Seven of the women in our sample had also been put into solitary confinement in Yarl's Wood, for reasons ranging from punishment after they protested, to having suspected communicable diseases, and the majority of these were also watched by men while they were in solitary confinement."
Thirty-one of the 33 women who were watched by men said that this made them uncomfortable, 27 said they felt ashamed, and 27 said they felt scared.
The report continued: "Six women said that a member of staff made a sexual suggestion to them, and 3 said that they were touched sexually. Seven said that they were assaulted by a member of staff. Twenty-nine said that they were bullied by a member of staff. Twenty-five said that they experienced a member of staff being racist to them. Twenty-four women witnessed another woman in detention being subjected to some kind of abusive behaviour."
Women also explained how they felt criminalised and dehumanised at Yarl's Wood.
"I was seeking asylum, all I got was disillusion, all I got was prison. It was like the world was going to come to an end. I had never been in prison before," one woman was quoted as saying.
Quotes in the report on the dehumanising effects of Yarl's Wood included: "They spoke to me as if I was an animal, not a human being," and "We feel all the time we are not human. We are nothing. All the noises made me scared at night – they can open your door whenever they want."
Feelings of anxiety and depression were common as a result of detention at Yarl's Wood.
Women for Refugee Women says putting innocent asylum seeking women in detention is wrong and recommends an end to the detention of those seeking asylum. In the immediate future, it recommends that pregnant women and women who have experienced rape or other gender-based violence should never be detained.
A Home Office spokesman told the Guardian: "Detention and removal are essential elements of an effective immigration system. We are committed to treating all detainees with dignity and respect, and take any allegations to the contrary very seriously."
"We have invited Women for Refugee Women to supply details of the cases in question so that they can be investigated fully."