SHUT DOWN YARL’S WOOD demonstrations led by Women Asylum Seekers Together (WAST) and Manchester Migrant Solidarity (MISOL) with Safety4Sisters have taken over some of the main squares in Manchester, as women fight to get their voices heard.
In 2015 I worked with women from WAST and MISOL to create an exhibition documenting their experiences of detention, and the Shut Down Yarl’s Wood demos. It was shown at People’s History Museum as part of the Wonder Women festival, along with a performance by the amazing WAST choir.
The notorious Yarl’s Wood detention centre in Berkshire holds mainly female asylum seekers. They have committed no crime but are held indefinitely. In 2014 a Channel 4 undercover investigation evidenced the state sanctioned abuse of women in Yarl’s Wood immigration detention centre. These are issues that asylum seeking women have been speaking out about for years.
Below are a selection of images and quotes from the exhibition.
Warp & Weft 