Sexual Abuse Within Immigration Detention Must Be Addressed Immediately

(Originally published at Legal Momentum Briefing Room)

Human Rights Watch’s new report, “Detained and at Risk: Sexual Abuse and Harassment in United States Immigration Detention,” demonstrates the critical need for protection from sexual abuse within immigration detention.  The report details various incidents and allegations of abuse, the frequency of which is largely unknown. One of these incidents occurred in 2007, when a trafficking victim was sexually assaulted in a Florida jail with which ICE had a contract to rent bed space for immigration detainees.  Women detained on criminal charges who were housed in the same dormitory assaulted the victim while she was partially incapacitated by prescribed sedatives. In 2008, five women detained at the Port Isabel Service Processing Center in Texas were assaulted when a guard entered their rooms in the detention center infirmary. Assuring them that he was acting under the orders of a physician, the guard told the women to undress and then proceeded to touch them sexually.

Data collected on these type of incidents is highly erroneous, because it typically excludes detention facilities not run exclusively by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Victims face fear of reporting abuse from the very people in charge of their deportation.

In recent proposals by ICE, the agency has stated their intention to address this issue. Yet, in their report, Human Rights Watch emphasize that action must not be limited to ICE’s recommendations, but must be taken swiftly to enforce legally binding detention standards in all immigration detention facilities.

The prevalence of sexual assault crimes within the criminal justice system stands in sharp contrast to the intentions of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which was designed specifically to educate law enforcement as well as other professionals about sexual assault. VAWA, which Legal Momentum helped to draft and pass, provides funds to educate medical professionals, victim advocates, law enforcement, prosecutors and judges about sexual assault.

The perpetration of sexual assault by officials themselves is a fundamental human rights abuse that must not be tolerated. Human Rights Watch’s recommendations are a critical step towards ensuring the safety of all individuals, regardless of their citizenship, within the detention system.

Learn more about Legal Momentum’s Immigrant Women Program, the nation’s expert on the rights and services available to immigrant victims of domestic and other violence. The Immigrant Women Program, provides training, comprehensive publications, and technical assistance for lawyers, law enforcement, and advocates nationwide about legal protections, social services, and economic justice for immigrant women.

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