Central American women fleeing violence experience more trauma after seeking asylum
By Laurie C. Heffron
April 25, 2019 · 11:45 AM EDT
Public Radio International
https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-04-25/central-american-women-fleeing-violence-experience-more-trauma-after-seeking
According to many studies by scholars like psychologists Katy Robjant and Kalina Brabeck, locking immigrants up can damage their mental health by increasing risks of depression, post-traumatic stress and anxiety. The effects can last years and even a lifetime. For parents, the damage extends beyond detention and may harm children of the detained.
Because detention relies on control, coercion and containment, it inherently makes frightened people more fearful, disrupts sleep and restricts access to medical, legal and social services. […]
Many detained women say they have been abused while being held by US immigration authorities in what appear to be inhumane conditions marked by incidents of sexual harassment and sexual assault.
The Department of Homeland Security itself has documented dangers that include the provision of food that isn’t safe to eat, like moldy bread and rotten meat, and delayed medical care.
There are signs of threats and intimidation as well. A woman I’ll call Adelia told my research team that when she asked an immigration official how much money she would have to pay to be released, she was told: “Stop asking me, or I’ll raise the amount.”
Investigative media outlets, immigrant rights advocates and researchers have documented that ICE detainees often face threats, insults, humiliation and stress brought on by constantly changing rules and expectations.
ICE itself has disclosed that 28 women had miscarriages while in detention during the 2017 and 2018 fiscal years.
I have heard directly and through media reports that these immigration detention centers sometimes isolate detained women, either in response to perceived mental health issues or as punishment, leaving them unable to interact with one another, their own children or the volunteer lawyers who are trying to help them.
These practices echo and exacerbate survivors’ experiences with past abuse and violence. That is, detention settings may resemble control tactics used by abusers, traffickers or other perpetrators, compounding previous trauma.