Women ‘routinely watched’ by male staff at immigration centre

Women held at a controversial immigration prison are being watched by male staff in intimate situations including when naked or using the toilet, despite earlier reassurances from Home Office officials that this would not be allowed, a refugee charity has claimed.

Most of the women who claim to be routinely watched by male staff at Yarl’s Wood detention centre in Bedfordshire are victims of sexual violence, Women for Refugee Women (WRW) said in a report.

The charity interviewed 38 women who were recently or currently detained in Yarl’s Wood, of whom 33 said that they were seen by male staff in the centre in intimate situations including when naked, when in bed, when on the toilet and when in the bathroom.

One interviewee, who was on suicide watch in Yarl’s Wood, told the charity: “When you are on suicide watch you ask for a woman when you want to take a shower, they said we don’t have enough staff.

“I was on suicide watch and so was my room mate. A man and a woman were watching us. We asked if the man could leave while we went to the toilet and he refused. They didn’t respect us.”

In January 2014 the Home Office said: “Male staff would not supervise women showering, dressing or undressing.”

Other findings show 13 – or a third – of the women interviewed said that they were searched by male staff, and 22, more than half, said they were searched by women while being watched by men.

Six women said that staff at Yarl’s Wood had made sexual suggestions to them, and three alleged that they were touched sexually.

Yarl’s Wood has faced heavy criticism in the past by human rights campaigners amid reports of sexual misconduct by staff, women being detained for long periods and pregnant detainees being held without justification.

Despite troubles faced by the centre, the Home Office recently awarded private firm Serco a £70 million contract to operate the immigration jail for a further eight years.

Conservative MP Richard Fuller, who is a member of the current Parliamentary Detention Inquiry panel, said: “I support a robust immigration policy but no purpose is served by locking up vulnerable women indefinitely in Yarl’s Wood.

“Current detention practice is inefficient, unjust and expensive and reform is urgently needed.”

The WRW report is being launched at a conference in central London with more than 100 refugee women and supporters. Mr Fuller and Labour MP Stella Creasy are among the speakers.

WRW said fifteen of the women interviewed said they were handcuffed while being taken into detention, although only six women said they resisted being taken into detention.

More than 70% of the women in the sample who described experiences in their home countries said that they had been raped or been victims of other sexual violence before coming to the UK.

And more than half of the women were on suicide watch, while 40% said that they self-harmed while inside.

Some 2,038 women were detained after seeking asylum in the UK in 2013 with 43% held for more than a month.

Only 31% left detention to be removed from the UK, the rest re-entered British society to continue their asylum claims.

Natasha Walter, director of Women for Refugee Women, said: “This report shows that survivors of sexual violence who come to the UK seeking protection are routinely being locked up and are denied privacy and dignity in detention despite claims to the contrary from the Home Office.

“The behaviour of staff, particularly male staff, in Yarl’s Wood detention centre, is adding to the trauma of survivors of sexual violence.

“While Britain is taking steps to try to combat sexual violence at home and abroad and protect victims, the Government cannot allow this to continue.

“Detention has no place in the asylum process. It is expensive, unjust and inefficient to lock up people who have come here to seek asylum.

“Only a minority of women leave Yarl’s Wood to be deported; most re-enter British society to continue their asylum claims. Women who seek protection in the UK should be able to live in the community while their claims are considered.

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