Recent reports have detailed medical abuse, neglect, and hysterectomies without clear consent at U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers. These reports have spurred a new wave of conversations about how systems and institutions unjustly wield power immigrants and Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and other people of color—and the intersections of reproductive justice and sexual violence.
Immigrants are already vulnerable to sexual violence before detention. Many are asylum seekers, fleeing from Central America and other regions to the United States to escape violent situations, including sexual violence, in their home countries. They are subject to a high risk of sexual violence being done to them during the arduous journey they undertake to the United States. This means that many immigrants in detention are survivors—people who have been robbed of their bodily autonomy before.
If held in custody at detention centers, survivors and other immigrants face further risk of sexual assault, harassment, and abuse in detention. And it’s important to note that for survivors of sexual violence, medical appointments and procedures inherently already have the potential to retraumatize. (That’s why at BARCC we help medical providers learn to provide care in ways that are trauma-informed and give survivors agency and choice.) The language barriers, lack of clear communication, and lack of informed consent that we are seeing reported only exacerbate this and add additional layers of trauma. And they reflect systemic issues of racism and oppression—specifically against Latinx women and people with uteruses in this case—not one-off “bad apples.”
Lilly Marcelin, founder and executive director of the Resilient Sisterhood Project, a BARCC partner, reflects: “It’s very worrisome this country continues to have health policies that dehumanize and undermine the autonomy of detained or undocumented women’s reproductive health and overall well-being. For many of these women, accessing reproductive health care services may have already been a challenge prior to leaving their country of origin. That’s why it is critical for those of us who are concerned about the plight of immigrant women to speak up and take action against these blatant injustices.”
Besides being incredibly troubling in and of themselves, these reported patterns have even more distressing implications when we look at U.S. history and the history of genocide throughout the world. In addition to sexual violence being done to them at higher rates than average, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and other people of color have also endured forced sterilization and other forms of violence, sometimes coded as “medical research.” Those procedures, amongst other cruelties, have included forced hysterectomies. They all have one thing in common: they were done to people to maintain control, exert power, and uphold white supremacy.
Speaking about the latest news, Maria F. Vidano, BARCC’s bilingual immigration attorney, said, “There is a long-standing pattern of conduct within our immigration detention system that sends the message that this group is undeserving of humane treatment and basic human rights. The abuse and mistreatment of this population within our borders is particularly cruel given how many of them are fleeing gender-based violence, experienced severe trauma, are extremely vulnerable, and come to the United States to seek refuge.”
Sexual violence is not about sex. It is about power and control and is perpetrated on individual and institutional levels. To take away a person’s choices and control over their own body is to declare they have a lesser right to exist. It is a tactic of genocide. And it has no place in our society.
In light of all this, we just want to remind everyone: We support all survivors of sexual violence, regardless of immigration status. And we believe in a world free of all forms of oppression, because oppression is at the root of sexual violence. We will continue supporting survivors, advocating for systems change, and working toward a world where “everyone is free to go about their daily lives knowing that their bodies, identities, minds, and spirits will always be valued and respected.”
