Gendering detention: (re)producing vulnerability for migrant women in British Immigration Removal Centres

Abstract

Less than 10% of migrants in immigration detention in the UK are women, despite high-profile cases such as Yarl’s Wood IRC, and so previous research concerned with the experience of detention focuses on the general migrant population which consists mainly of men. Therein lies an uncomfortable gendered nexus between a feminised vulnerability which sustains anti-detention narratives and the somatic masculinity of the detention estate. The experiences of men are treated as the norm, despite the differing and gendered experiences of detained women. This article addresses this gap by drawing together theoretical and empirical literature focusing on the experiences of migrant women detained in the UK and conceptualising Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs) as a microcosm through which to theorise the control and dehumanisation of migrant bodies within the contemporary context of the ‘Hostile Environment’. In particular, this article pays close attention to the intersection of gender and immigration status for migrant detainees as their experiences of pregnancy, sex work and sexual violence implicate how they experience detention.