Women’s Audio/Visual Testimony about brutal treatment suffered in detention

All those interviewed confirm that the copyright for their interviews rests with WAR. We expect anyone who views the clips to respect each woman’s right to be consulted before her material is reproduced or circulated in any form other than sharing the “URL”. Please contact us to discuss any other uses. We encourage private/educational use of the material, but the source must be acknowledged.

THE MATERIAL MUST NOT BE USED FOR ANY COMMERICIAL OR PERSONAL FINANCIAL GAIN.

Videos:
https://womenagainstrape.net/we-are-here-because-2/

YouTube playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWb1LvpIxB5m1H5boYHZ4XtNgw0qY9gIo

_________________________________________

In the media: Traumatised and alone – why are we still sending survivors of abuse to detention centres?

10 November 2021

Traumatised and alone – why are we still sending survivors of abuse to detention centres? Metro Exclusive, By Lauren Crosby Medlicott, Freelance writer. Following years of violence at the hands of her husband, in 2002, Gloria Peters fled her home country of Kenya. It had been a difficult decision to make, and …

_________________________________________

Submission to Home Affairs Committee Immigration Detention Inquiry

11 May 2018

Submission to Home Affairs Committee Immigration Detention Inquiry Black Women’s Rape Action Project (BWRAP) was founded in 1991. Women Against Rape (WAR) was founded in 1976. Together the two organisations have worked closely with women in detention, particularly in Yarl’s Wood IRC, over many years documenting the traumatic impact of rape and other violence on …

_________________________________________

Rape & Sexual Abuse in Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre

14 June 2017

Our report chronicles a regime of predatory sexual abuse (including racist sexual abuse) since it opened and began accepting women and families in 2002. It brings together the many allegations that have been reported to us, with other reports that have appeared in the media. Many of the reports come from All African Women's Group members some of whom have been centrally involved in protests including successive hunger strikes.

Categories Asylum from Rape, Campaigns, import from old site, In the Media, Submissions & Briefings, Yarl's Wood detention centre Tags Black Women's Rape Action Project, detention, End the detention of rape survivors, Women Against Rape, Yarl's Wood

_________________________________________

Event: International week of actions to close detention centres

29 June 2015

Protest and Speak Out “THIS IS A PRISON NOT A HOLIDAY CAMP” International week of actions to close detention centres 15 – 21 June 2015, 12 noon to 2pm: Parliament Square, nearest tube Westminster. CLOSE YARL’S WOOD AND ALL DETENTION CENTRES! Detention without limit – Rape by guards – No healthcare – Mothers separated from their kids – Fast Track decisions …

_________________________________________

No retribution. Women in detention protest brutality by guards

17 October 2012

“We were held for many hours, without food, some women fainting and ill.” On Wednesday 17 October, 200 women were “kettled” in a corridor in Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre in Bedfordshire for eight hours. The detention centre remains in “lock down”. Some have been stopped from getting their medication. Five women are being held …

_________________________________________

Why women in Yarl’s Wood went on hunger strike (transcript)

17 March 2011

Why women in Yarl’s Wood went on hunger strike (transcript) M: Some of the hunger strikers said there were meetings of about 20 women who discussed organising it and that they organised across the wings because Avocet started, and women from Bunting and Dove who were working for SERCO selling food noticed no one …

_________________________________________

Report: Louder Than Words

29 June 2010

Report: Women’s Hunger Strike – Louder than Words. When 70 women went on hunger strike in Yarl’s Wood IRC on 5 February, an unprecedented level of media coverage followed. Rape survivors, mothers separated from their children, and other vulnerable women, some of whom had been detained without trial for months (one for over a year), …

_________________________________________

Urgent action: End the Detention of Families

28 May 2010

Action alert: End the detention of families. Dear friends, Over 80 people attended the House of Commons meeting Women’s Hunger Strike – Louder than Words (29 June 2010) which succeeded in making public how women seeking asylum are spearheading the movement against the injustice of the asylum system (and other injustices), and in gathering support for these …

_________________________________________

Women speak out in Parliament against detention, deportation, privatisation and profiteering 14 January 2010

14 January 2010

Women speak out in Parliament against detention, deportation, privatisation and profiteering. With recent press coverage shedding light on the devastating impact of detention on children, and the public outrage that followed, it was no surprise that a meeting on the detention of mothers and other vulnerable people in the House of Commons …

Read more

_________________________________________

Press release: Hunger strike and sit in at Yarl’s Wood detention centre.

29 June 2009

PLEASE TAKE ACTION IN SUPPORT OF THE HUNGER STRIKE AND SIT-IN AT YARL’S WOOD IMMIGRATION DETENTION CENTRE Picket SERCO Headquarters 22 Hand Court, Holborn, WC1V 6JF Friday 19 June 12.30-2pm Nearest Tubes: Holborn or Chancery Lane Women, children and men in the Family Unit at Yarl’s Wood IRC [1] are in the third day of …

_________________________________________

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

13 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 …

_________________________________________

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

9 May 2007

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 …

_________________________________________

Asylum From Rape Bulletin – Summer 2007

17 July 2007

Misjudging Asylum, Rape and Detention – 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 …

_________________________________________

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

29 May 2007

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, …