Caroline Lucas has criticised the Home Office for failing to implement its own policy and continuing to detain victims of sexual assault.
Lucas called on the Government to stop “inflicting further misery on people who have already experienced intense suffering” in response to a report by Women for Refugee Women, which found 22 out of 26 women interviewed had experienced sexual or gender based violence and been detained.
All the women were detained after the Home Office ‘Adults at Risk’ policy, which states people most at risk of being harmed by detention, including women who have survived sexual and gender-based violence, should not normally be locked up.
Caroline Lucas MP, co-leader of the Green Party, said:
"These findings are shocking, and show a complete failure by the Home Office to act on their own policy. Just a glance at some of the case studies reveals the callous disregard for people's wellbeing at the Government's approach - and the urgent need for change.
"The Government's cruel failure to comply with their own policy inflicts further misery on people who have already experienced intense suffering. Indeed the UK has one of the most draconian systems of detention of anywhere in the world. It's inhumane, expensive and unnecessarily harsh - which is why it needs overhauling. The Home Office must immediately stop routinely locking up the victims of sexual violence - there's simply no excuse for further inaction."