Terror suspects can only be held for max 28 days; there is no limit to how long an asylum-seeker can be held.

Most of us can not imagine the suffering which women seeking asylum in the UK have been through.

Their stories include rape, torture, imprisonment…

However, for many, that suffering does not end once they reach the safety of the UK; despite having committed no crime they are imprisoned, repeatedly questioned, and if they are not believed, they can be sent back to the nightmare.

And they can be held indefinitely while the process of seeking asylum plays out.

A petition has now been launched calling for an end to the detention of female asylum seekers in the UK.

The petition has been launched as a new report by Women for Refugee Women highlights the plight of female asylum seekers who are detained in the UK, and specifically names Yarl’s Wood detention centre in Bedfordshire where female asylum seekers are often held.

Meltem Avcil, who has set up the petition to Home Secretary Theresa May, was herself detained in Yarl’s Wood when she was 13 years old after she and her mother fled persecution in Turkey.

New laws have since prohibited the detention of children in Yarl’s Wood, but nearly 2000 women are still held there; imprisoned even though they have committed no crime.

The new report Detained, published last week, details the experiences of women who have been detained after seeking asylum in the UK.

85 per cent of the women interviewed for the report had been tortured or raped before seeking asylum.

More than half said that the persecution they were fleeing was gender related; and this included rape, sexual violence, forced marriage, female genital mutilation and forced prostitution.

More than half said they had thought about killing themselves while in detention, with one third being put on suicide watch.

The length of time that women in the report were held varies from three days to eleven months.

Please note that even terror suspects in the UK can only be held for a maximum of 28 days but there is no limit to the amount of time a person seeking asylum can be held.

Held, questioned, and then not permitted to stay in the UK.

For many who are detained, being incarcerated brought back painful memories of the very persecution they were escaping.

“When the big door closed it brought back everything that had happened to me back home when I was in prison,” said one women.

“I thought that I was going to be raped. The fear overtook me.I felt that I was not strong enough to go through anything like that again.”

The petition also asks the government to ’ensure that no male staff are employed at Yarl’s Wood detention centre in roles where they come into contact with women, and that allegations of abuse made against staff are properly investigated’.

Yarl’s Wood, which is run by Serco, has come under criticism in the past over allegations of sexual assault in the detention centre, and one of the women interviewed for Detained reported that she had been assaulted.

Women in Yarl’s Wood are very often guarded by men, with some reporting that these mens even watched them when they were using the toilets.

This directly contravenes Home Office guidelines which state that male guards should not “supervise women showering, dressing or undressing, even if on constant supervision through risk of self harm”.

Avcil recalled from when she was in Yarl’s Wood that, “Men do patrol in front of a woman’s room after they have attempted suicide.

“They do watch every move and they do comment in disgusting ways.

“[While] a male guard was watching me, I dropped my nose piercing and when I found it he said “do you have piercings elsewhere, like your belly or anywhere else? It’s fun to have piercings”. I never answered that question it was too uncomfortable for a 13 year-old girl.”

Lydia Besong, one of the women who was interviewed for the report, said: “I wish the politicians could understand what they are doing to women by detaining us like this when we have already been through so much.

“Asylum seekers are not criminals. That’s why I wanted to speak out for this report, because I believe that if people speak out, then change will come one day. If we do not speak out, then we are dying in silence.”

There are alternatives to keeping women in a detention centre until their cases have been resolved.

Women for Refugee Women has suggested that while their cases are assessed these women should be allowed to live in the community, which as well as allowing them their human dignity and a chance to rehabilitate, costs the tax-payer much less.

For, as Avcil explained; “If the innocent women were not to be detained they could contribute to the society while their cases are being taken care of.

“There is no harm in these women living in the community. Many are loved by their communities and again these women are not criminals.

“They are victims of torture and rape.

“Since when has it become normal to lock up victims and treat them in such vile ways?”

The greater problem which underlies the issue of detention, is that many of the women – all but one in the report – are denied asylum, and feel that their stories are often not believed.

“They don’t believe you. They ask you 500 questions and they ask the same question in a slightly different way and if you don’t answer them all exactly the same, they say that you are lying,” one woman explained.

Often the traumatic experiences that female asylum seekers have been through can be especially hard to disclose.

Women in the report said they felt afraid or ashamed to talk about what they had suffered.

In addition, many felt uncomfortable discussing details of their persecution when they were from cultures where to speak openly about such things was unacceptable.

What is clear as you read the report and listen to women’s experiences of seeking asylum here, is that things need to change.

Please add your voice to their cause by signing the petition here.

And join us outside the Home Office, on Marsham Street, London, on 13 February from 6pm – 7pm to shine a light on Yarl’s Wood and the indefinite detention of refugee women. Bring torches, candles, bike lights.

Click here for details.