Public Meeting: Women’s Hunger Strike Louder Than Words

Over 40 days • across races & languages • mothers defend families • many released • deportations halted.

On 5 February, over 70 women began a hunger strike in Yarl’s Wood IRC. Their demands included an end to:

• the detention of mothers separated from their children and vulnerable people, including rape survivors;
• the Fast Track for asylum seekers which denies people time to present their cases to the authorities;
• violent and humiliating treatment by guards
• denial of legal advice and medical treatment

The official response was to ‘kettle’ women, deny them access to water and toilets, target, assault and imprison particular women and deny there was a hunger strike. The women continued undeterred for six weeks.

Women central to the hunger strike will speak of the huge impact it had and how women: organised the strike across divides of race and language • fought legal cases to prevent deportations and get out on bail • countered lies, threats and attempts to undermine their struggle • won crucial publicity, support and recognition that they are not “bogus” asylum seekers but survivors of rape and other torture and mothers distraught at being separated from their children.”

For information and interviews:
All African Women’s Group aawg02@googlemail.com
Black Women’s Rape Action Project bwrap@dircon.co.uk
Tel: 020 7482 2496/07980659831