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A report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons has found consistent safeguarding failures in women-only immigration detention centres across the UK. Following inspections of immigration detention centres, the report provides evidence that immigration detention fails to safeguard society’s most vulnerable women.

The inspections found detained women with significant physical and mental health issues are “wrongly assessed as having no health concerns”. Detention centre GPs repeatedly fail to complete important medical documentation (Rule 35 Report) alerting the Home Office of vulnerable women.

Many of the safeguarding issues reported stem from the detention centre staff’s “lack of awareness” regarding detained women’s experiences. Home Office data (2025) shows 40% of detained women are assessed as an Adult At Risk. This assessment includes, but is not limited to, victims of domestic or sexual violence, torture, human trafficking and modern slavery. Women who are pregnant, or with mental or physical health needs, are also assessed as an Adult At Risk.

Over half of the women detained had documented histories of experiencing domestic or sexual violence. In cases of trafficking and modern slavery, or where they required medical care, detainment and segregation are especially harmful.

Inspectors repeatedly found that vulnerability was not properly identified, communicated, or considered when decisions were made to detain women. As a result, many vulnerable women are not referred to appropriate support or safeguarding bodies and policies inconsistently reflect women’s gender-specific needs.

Additionally, interpretation services are under-used and translated resources are severely lacking. Moreover, there is “little proactive help” to maintain contact with family and friends, compounding feelings of isolation.

The report shows these systemic issues affect detained women regardless of the legal basis of their entry into the UK. In one case, a woman was detained for 138 hours despite entering the country lawfully. She reported a history of depression and was assessed as being at risk. However, she didn’t receive any form of mental health support from detention centre staff until she began making suicide threats.

Women are also subjected to exhausting and traumatising treatment during transfers between detainment facilities. Transfers are often made with little warning in the middle of the night, when women are tired and disorientated. Women are often transferred despite serious health concerns and handcuffs are frequently used on pregnant women and abuse survivors.

Women in UK immigration detention centres are being isolated and re-traumatised in their greatest time of need. After fleeing violence and exploitation, these women continue to suffer and have their human rights violated in detention centres that are understaffed, where staff are under-trained and accessible support resources are limited.