- Target:
- Prime Minister, Immigration Minister
- Region:
- United Kingdom
- Website:
- www.movementforjustice.org
End systematic abuse – including sexual abuse - & the denial of human rights.
We Demand a Full Public Inquiry into Yarl's Wood IRC
Women detainees and ex-detainees have been coming forward to speak out about the abuse they suffered and witnessed, and to demand redress. The racist and sexist regime, of legal, psychological and physical abuse which women frequently describe as mental torture at Yarl's Wood, has been covered up for far too long. The women imprisoned in Yarl’s Wood are systematically set up for abuse by the fact that they are treated as liars, who must prove themselves truthful whilst being detained indefinitely.
By law the ‘burden of proof’ in the asylum & immigration system means they are guilty until proven innocent. The women in Yarl’s Wood have between them successfully escaped every kind of abuse and violence that women commonly face around the world – rape, sexual abuse, forced marriage, Female Genital Mutilation, trafficking, domestic violence, child abuse, anti-gay persecution. It is known that violence against women and girls is common worldwide. Yet their claims are routinely disbelieved, and their credibility attacked. Is it any surprise that they be targeted for sexual abuse by guards in detention? The sexual abuse and its cover-up that was publicly exposed by The Observer (14/09/13) are the inevitable products of this regime.
The public exposure of sexual abuse has come about because of the strength of a detainee who refused to be silent. There are many more ready to follow.
Enough is enough. Abuse in Yarl's Wood is not merely the result of a few bad guards; it is the result of a system and is the Government's responsibility.
1. We demand that Yarl's Wood detention centre is SHUT DOWN
2. A full Public Inquiry into the sexual and other forms of abuse at Yarl's Wood Detention Centre.
3. Present and former detainees and their supporters must have the choice to give evidence in public.
4. EVERY aspect of the system that makes the sexual abuse possible must be exposed to public scrutiny. Nothing less is acceptable.
5. Present and former Yarl's Wood detainees MUST NOT BE DEPORTED. They are ALL potential witnesses.
6. There must be NO reprisals or discrimination against anyone giving evidence
Women of Yarls Wood Speak Out from Movement for Justice on Vimeo.
PETITION ENDORSED BY
(Endorsements so far, please msg to add your name):
Yarl's Wood Movement for Justice Group
Leeds MFJ Group
Manchester MFJ Group
Lee Jasper (Co Chair of BARAC and National Black Members Officer for Respect Party UK)
Black Activists Rising Against the Cuts (BARAC)
NCADC National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns
Virtual Migrants
Hands Off Somalia
Justice for Women
Women Asylum Seekers Together (Manchester)
RAPAR (Refugee & Asylum Seeker Participatory Action Research)
BritCits
John McDonnell MP
South Yorkshire Migration & Asylum Action Group (SYMAAG)
Women Seeking Sanctuary Advocacy Group Wales
HEAR EX DETAINEES OF YARL'S WOOD, MFJ ACTIVISTS SPEAK OUT ON DEMONSTRATION:
http://vimeo.com/75331500
See more articles here:
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/sep/14/detainees-yarls-wood-sexual-abuse
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/sep/14/yarls-wood-immigrant-sex-abuse-tanja
theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/sep/21/sexual-abuse-yarls-wood-immigration
ncadc.org.uk/blog/2013/09/the-women-in-yarls-wood-are-fighters
1. That Yarl's Wood Detention Centre is SHUT DOWN.
2. A full Public Inquiry into the sexual and other forms of abuse at Yarl's Wood.
3. Present and former detainees and their supporters must have the choice to give evidence in public.
4. EVERY aspect of the system that makes the sexual abuse possible must be exposed to public scrutiny. Nothing less is acceptable.
5. Present and former Yarl's Wood detainees MUST NOT BE DEPORTED. They are ALL potential witnesses.
6. There must be NO reprisals or discrimination against anyone giving evidence.
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The Public Inquiry into Yarl's Wood IRC petition to Prime Minister, Immigration Minister was written by Movement for Justice and is in the category Gender Rights and Issues at GoPetition.