Feminist Fight for the Rights of Women – Inside & Outside Yarl’s Wood

1. Feminist Fight for the Rights of Women – Inside & Outside Yarl’s Wood Fighting for Women’s Rights; Inside & Outside of Yarl’s Wood

2. 2015 - HM Prisons inspectorate deemed Yarl’s Wood ‘a place of national concern... failing to meet the needs of the most vulnerable women’ • In the 6 months prior to the inspection: 443 women were deported & 894 were released back into the community. There were 354 detainees at the time of the inspection.

3. Home Office Guidelines ‘Detention must be used sparingly, and for the shortest period necessary.’ (Enforcement Instructions and Guidance ,55.1.3. Use of detention) ‘Pregnant women should not normally be detained. The only exception to this general rule is: where removal is imminent and medical advice does not suggest confinement before the due removal date’ (Enforcement Instructions and Guidance ,55.9.1. Use of detention) Of the 99 pregnant women detained in 2014, 90 were released back into the community. Their detention was contrary to Home Office guidelines.

4. Belief • Empathy • Justice

7. ‘A person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.“ Article 1 of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951), as amended by the 1967 Protocol

9. Women Seeking Asylum in the UK

10. Women Seeking Asylum in the UK • Women Seeking Asylum in the UK • For many women seeking asylum, experiences of persecution are gender-specific: • Persecuted because they are women e.g. domestic violence, forced marriage, forced prostitution • Persecuted in gender-specific ways e.g. rape, sexual violence

11. Women Seeking Asylum in the UK • Women Seeking Asylum in the UK • As women seeking asylum, particular & gendered experiences in the UK, too • Difficulties getting claim for asylum recognised because: • Experiences not recognised as persecution • May not have documentary evidence • Difficulty disclosing experiences of rape, sexual violence

12. Women Seeking Asylum in the UK • Women Seeking Asylum in the UK • Women seeking asylum may also be held in detention centres • Detention supposed to be for purposes of removal, but in 2014 three-quarters of asylum-seeking women held in detention were released back into community • Release rate even higher for pregnant women – 90%!

13. Women Seeking Asylum in the UK • Women Seeking Asylum in the UK • 2,000 women seeking asylum detained each year, mainly in Yarl’s Wood • Majority of women seeking asylum in detention have experienced rape, sexual violence or other torture • Being locked up re-traumatises them

14. Women Seeking Asylum in the UK • Women Seeking Asylum in the UK • Our research: 1 in 5 women said they tried to kill themselves, 40% said they self-harmed in detention • Prisons Inspectorate 2015 report: levels of self-harm in Yarl’s Wood had tripled since previous inspection • High levels of mental distress exacerbated by lack of time limit on detention

15. Women seeking asylum in the UK • Women Seeking Asylum in the UK • In June 2014, Serco admitted that 10 staff dismissed for ‘sexual impropriety’ with women detained in Yarl’s Wood • Our research: Over 85% of women said male guards had seen them in intimate situations, including in bed, on the toilet or in the shower

16. Women seeking asylum in the UK Women Seeking Asylum in the UK ‘It bothered me so much. I have a history of sexual abuse. This man can do anything to me. It’s not right at all. It makes you so vulnerable.’ ‘I felt ashamed. A total stranger just saw you naked and you have to see them all day. It breaks your confidence.’

17. www.refugeewomen.co.uk@4refugeewomengemma@refugeewomen.co.uk