Women inside Yarl’s Wood IRC demand an end to brutal treatment by Serco, 8 May 2008

Women inside Yarl’s Wood IRC demand an end to brutal treatment by Serco DEMANDS FOLLOWING SERCO’S INVITATION TO VISIT YARL’S WOOD REMOVAL CENTRE ISSUED AT THEIR AGM, 13 May 2008 1. Many women in detention have suffered rape and other torture. According to the Immigration Services Operational Manual (Third EDN) if someone reports being a …

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Asylum from Rape Bulletin: Summer 2008

Women reunited with their children 5 March was one of the happiest occasions of this past year for many of us.  Betty A, a longstanding and much loved volunteer was reunited with the four children whom she was forced to leave behind when she fled Uganda.  The full and heart-rending story is still to be told …

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Janipher Maseko fled Uganda after her mother died and she was raped by armed rebels.

She was 13 when she arrived in the UK. She was looking for a place of safety. This is what she found The Guardian, Saturday 24 November 2007 I came to this country five years ago, a desperate young teenager, alone, in search of help and safety. The last thing I expected was that I …

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Asylum From Rape Bulletin – Summer 2007

Misjudging Asylum, Rape and Detention – 17 July 2007 John Mc Donnell MP and Lord Avebury hosted a packed meeting in the House of Commons which brought together women asylum seekers, MPs, Lords, lawyers, community and breastfeeding activists and other supporters to highlight the obstacles rape survivors face in getting their claims recognized. WAR’s speaker …

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Stop the threatened removal of Janipher Maseko, breastfeeding mother with two babies

Update: Following a wave of public outrage against the Home Office, social services and SERCO Ms Janipher Maseko, was told that she and her children are to be released. Ms Janipher Maseko, aged 18, who had fled rape and violence in Uganda and sought asylum in the UK four years ago as an unaccompanied minor, …

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Women in Yarl’s Wood Removal Centre on hunger strike protesting against SERCO’s draconian regime

Mothers join hunger strike Today 91 families, mainly single mothers with their children, some of whom have been detained for over three months, have joined the protest. Mothers report that after 5pm their kids go hungry as there is no food available until 8am the next morning. Children can’t manage under such harsh conditions. Most …

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Misjudging Rape – Breaching Gender Guidelines & International Law in Asylum Appeals

RESEARCH: Misjudging Rape – Breaching Gender Guidelines & International Law in Asylum Appeals Black Women’s Rape Action Project & Women Against Rape’s research documents the discrimination and hostility women seeking asylum from rape face.  Over 70% of the women claiming asylum in the UK are rape survivors.  Many face severe obstacles at every stage of …

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