Women’s experience of immigration detention

What we found (Back to top)

Although individual inspections of immigration detention generally find reasonably positive outcomes for women, concerns around safety and safeguarding persist… While 55 were held at Derwentside, a removal centre specifically for women, many were co-located in facilities with men, where they were often restricted to small areas and had to be escorted by staff. Some women told inspectors that they felt unsafe in these shared facilities, and some said they had received sexualised comments from men. Inspectors were disturbed to see some male detainees looking through women’s bedroom windows.

Some women had significant histories of poor mental health, including self-harm and suicide attempts, were victims of gender-based violence, modern slavery and trafficking, or were pregnant. Despite this, many were assessed as being fit to be detained. They regularly faced long, exhausting journeys to get to detention facilities, were often handcuffed without individualised risk assessments, and arrived late at night. Most women said escort and detention staff treated them well, but poor assessment and communication about their vulnerability, as well as gaps in staff knowledge and training at many centres, meant that vulnerable women did not always get the support they needed.