Guest post: "Detention is no place for pregnant women"

[MumsnetGuestPosts]

Lucy* was 23 when she fell pregnant as a result of brutal sexual violence. Her mother bought her a plane ticket to the UK, thinking she and her baby would be safe here - but she was detained straight from the airport. She arrived frightened, alone and pregnant, and was locked up.

Lucy spent four weeks in Yarl's Wood between months five and six of her pregnancy. She told me that she couldn't believe places like this existed in the UK.

Her pregnancy had been painful, Lucy said. At one point, things got so bad that her solicitor had to intervene to ensure she was taken to the nearby hospital for medical attention. The staff at Yarl's Wood were dismissive of her complaints; there's a prevalent culture of disbelief, and women are often accused of pretending to be ill to strengthen their asylum case. Concerns have repeatedly been raised about the quality of the healthcare provision at Yarl's Wood, and Lucy had no idea what was going to happen to her or her baby.

About a month after she was detained, Lucy was released. She had nowhere to go, and had to rely on the kindness of strangers until her baby boy was born. Her son is now three months old and they are living in the community, but their asylum status is still in limbo.

About a month after I first met Lucy, I also met Priya* in Yarl's Wood, where she'd been for about six weeks. She was 25, and around five months pregnant; her story is also told in .

I visit Yarl's Wood about once a month, and always take small gifts for the women I'm visiting – usually nice smellies, body lotions and shampoos. When I asked Priya what she wanted me to bring, she asked for a photo of a baby girl to look at, and I felt so saddened by the simplicity of her request. During her time in Yarl's Wood, she'd been taken to Bedford hospital for her 20 week scan, so she knew she was having a girl and desperately wanted to imagine what she might be like.

Priya had been taken late for her appointment, escorted by Yarl's Wood officers, and hadn't had time to speak to the midwife afterwards. She was clearly frustrated, anxious, and uncertain about what to expect. "I used to worry about myself, but now I only worry about what will happen to my daughter," she told me.

She also felt very alone. She has no family, either in the UK or her home country, and her partner, like her, is an asylum seeker. Although they spoke on the phone every day, he lived in asylum support accommodation at the other end of the country, and couldn't afford to visit. At the time, I was the only 'social' visitor she'd had. I couldn't believe how tiny and fragile she looked when we first met, but she told me she felt weak and sick all the time.

She struggled to eat the food that was provided, and had been unable to access proper support for her depression, low blood pressure, and problems sleeping. The experience of detention is immensely distressing, and over half the women we surveyed in detention said they thought about killing themselves. For Priya, pregnancy and the separation from her partner also made her more emotionally vulnerable, but staff were again dismissive and unkind when she sought help for her mental health problems.

Lucy and Priya's stories are heartbreaking, but sadly they are not alone in their experiences. Over the course of 2014, 99 pregnant women were detained in Yarl's Wood – despite the Home Office's own policy that pregnant women should only be detained under 'exceptional circumstances'.

At Women for Refugee Women we know, from the stories of women like Lucy and Priya, that detention is no place for pregnant women. And it's not just our opinion – two recent independent reviews, by HM Prisons Inspectorate and Stephen Shaw, as well as medical and legal experts, have expressed similar concerns about pregnant women being detained. Join our Set Her Free campaign to ensure all women who seek asylum in the UK are treated with dignity and respect - sign the petition here.

*Names have been changed

[Bubblesinthesummer]

This is why I have resisted posting about helping refugees for so long. Any debate that tries to go wider or ask difficult questions is in danger of being shut down with nit-picking and outrageous claims of offence on behalf of people who are never likely to be part of the debate

Same reason as I haven't much either.

[WomanWithAltitude]

We live in a country that even detains children in immigration detention centres. That makes me genuinely feel ashamed.

[OurBlanche]

Robust debate isn't stating that women that have been raped should be treated without compassion or offered help is it?

But I didn't read one such post you are referring to in the same way as you did, emily. You may have interpreted it like that, as may have many others, but I don't assume the poster was that callous. I assumed she meant:

The sad thing is that if 'Lucy' had been fast tracked into the UK other, less scrupulous people would have tried to use pregnancy as a means of getting into the UK.

Then again, I do prefer not to leap to thinking the worst of people. Maybe you are right and I am wrong! But even then, that poster would not have posted any hate speech, just an unpleasant point of view, one that needs to be considered alongside all the others that are deemed more palatable.

[Kummerspeck]

So if pregnant women and children should not be detained, how should we deal with them until we find if their entitlement to be here is real?

I think all people should be treated as humanely as possible and their applications be dealt with as quickly and efficiently as possible but, surely, allowing them to come here undetained would allow a lot who suspect their application would not be approved to disappear and would be a bad thing for the country as a whole

[WomanWithAltitude]

One poster said that she had no sympathy with detainees who complain, and they should essentially shut up about human rights abuses at Yarls Wood because things are worse in their home countries.

I think that 'without compassion' is an understatement tbh.

[WomanWithAltitude]

The same way we deal with other asylum seekers who aren't detained (as not all are). It isn't a given that we have to lock up asylum seekers and we haven't always done so.

[OurBlanche]

But it is not hate speech. That is the point. Unpleasant, yes. Lacking in compassion, yes. Hate speech, no!

And, as for the use of detention centres, outline a workable alternative. One that leaves the asylum seeker safe and fed and also gives the government control over who attains asylum status and who is refused. A solution that is workable, affordable and does not simply make things worse in different ways.

[WomanWithAltitude]

There are many who would dispute that detainees in places like Yarls Wood are 'safe'.

There are plenty of other models, check out the UNHCR website for information about recommended practices. The UK has one of the largest networks of detention centres and even then doesn't detain everyone.

[LeaveMyWingsBehindMe]

Actually that isn't quite what I said Woman you are putting words into my mouth, but as you've had my post deleted we will never know exactly what I said now, will we?

[WomanWithAltitude]

//www.UNHCR.org/4474140a2.html

This paper is interesting, for example.

[OurBlanche]

Ah, but I didn't say Yarls Wood was safe. I am aware of some of the issues, as I am aware of some of the misreports and disinformation. It isn't as simple as Yarls Wood is evil.

And I have read parts of the UN recommendations, many of which the UK does have in place already, as you say, we do not detain all.

Why do you think the UK has "one of the largest networks of detention centres"? The answer to that might be at the heart of those comments you dislike.

[emilybohemia]

'It does stifle wider debate and, given previous reference to infantilising women, does seem to infer that we, "delicate flowers"* need to be protected from such unpleasantness'.

Blanche women do need to have their right to be treated in a way that does not compromise their safety or mental health protected. This applies to many situations and is especially true forwomen in detention that have already suffered trauma. This in no way suggests women are delicate flowers.

I read into that comment you refer to what was there plainly Blanche, nothing to do with thinking the worst of people.

'The sad thing is that if 'Lucy' had been fast tracked into the UK other, less scrupulous people would have tried to use pregnancy as a means of getting into the UK'.

Would they really? Seems quite a grandiose and odd claim to me implying that people become pregnant with the ulterior motive of travelling what is often quite an arduous path to a far away country.

[AMouseLivedinaWindMill]

I do prefer not to leap to thinking the worst of people

I agree. Its depressing to read one comment then attach a whole nazi esq ideology to a poster.

When the reality is ones own views may sooo liberal and for total freedom meaning that very little other people could say, would ever fall into an acceptable answer.

Meaning that any posts that do not call for total freedom, free movement for all, no barriers, no inhibitors on movement like where you were born etc, if you do not think that borders are created by capitalists to divide and rule, then any posts will seem nazi and rasicst?

Its going to be hard.

[WomanWithAltitude]

Fair enough.

And the UK doesn't have one of the largest networks because we have more asylum seekers. We just have a tendency to lock more of them up. The information and stats are all available on the UNHCR and other websites. We may not detain all, but our practices aren't exactly viewed as progressive.

[LazyDaysAndTuesdays]

I agree AMouse. You have summed up the issue

[OurBlanche]

Yes, that post. Again, it is not hate speech, it is merely a less pleasant point of view.

You cannot disregard it as a possibility. There may well be women being told that as a truth, by those who sell them a dream and send them into a nightmare.

And I think you may have missed my explanation of why I used certain terms.

[WomanWithAltitude]

The UNHCR 'Beyond Detention' strategy is also worth reading, for those who think that locking up all claimants is the only way to deal with the asylum process.

The measure of a person is in how they treat those who are less powerful than them. I believe the same applies to countries - we demonstrate our true values when it comes to how we treat the most vulnerable and least powerful. No country that detains children without cause can consider itself to have good values, imo.

[OurBlanche]

Buffy, I work, well I volunteer, at the other end, where people, men, women and children, are placed in homes all over the country.

So I have a working knowledge of some of the issues as experienced by some asylum seekers. I am not heartless, I maybe a tad hardened, but I do know that not all the heart breaking stories are as they are reported. Just as I know that very many people suffer incredible hardships to gain a place of safety. Just as I know that some people lie, and are fleeing nothing at all.

[OurBlanche]

for those who think that locking up all claimants is the only way to deal with the asylum process. no one has said that, have they?

[WomanWithAltitude]

But whether or not this woman's claim, or anyone else's claim, meets the criteria for being a refugee is irrelevant.

We should be treating all asylum seekers humanely and with dignity regardless. If their claim fails, then they will be removed. But that doesn't give countries the right to disregard their human rights. Claiming asylum isn't a crime, and all human beings are entitled to human treatment.

[emilybohemia]

'The measure of a person is in how they treat those who are less powerful than them. I believe the same applies to countries - we demonstrate our true values when it comes to how we treat the most vulnerable and least powerful. No country that detains children without cause can consider itself to have good values, imo'.

I agree, WomanwithAltitude.

[Viviennemary]

I just find it an incredible nerve that people think they can jump on a plane to the country of their choice and claim free medical treatment. If I suffered from domestic violence or other threats could I just hop on a plane to Say the US or NZ. No. I see nobody has mentioned the country where these women are from. Is it a war zone?

[IPityThePontipines]

I agree with Woman With Attitude's posts.

Despite my own personal connections, I don't generally post on refugee threads because I find them full of Daily Mail type unpleasantness.

As for whoever it was upthread who said they were espousing a more "complex viewpoint" as a opposed to"handwringing", I find that to be a very disingenuous argument and a excuse for doing nothing whatsoever in the guise of nothing being a perfect solution.

The problems causing the refugee crisis have been long in the making and the solutions won't happen overnight. However this doesn't mean we shouldn't try.

[LumelaMme]

It would be a very sad forum if we had "No Platforming" where people could not speak if they were not on message.
Indeed.

As for whoever it was upthread who said they were espousing a more "complex viewpoint" as a opposed to"handwringing", I find that to be a very disingenuous argument
The thing is, it IS complicated. Denying that it is complicated is not going to provide lasting solutions.

And incidentally, when discussing 'left' and 'right', the person I know of who does the most for refugees is an out-and-out Conservative. He was advised to leave the place where he was working because his life was in danger from those nice gents of ISIS. So simple political categories just don't fit here.