Experiences and challenges faced by migrant women affected by immigration detention

Immigration detention is a punitive practice that deprives migrants of liberty and exposes women to profound risks. This policy brief examines how detention systems—marked by overcrowding, abuse, and a lack of healthcare—harm migrant women and gender-diverse people, compounding trauma and violating their human rights. It documents sexual and gender-based violence, denial of reproductive health care, and inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities, all of which erode dignity and well-being.

Through a feminist, intersectional lens, this policy brief highlights how structural discrimination and restrictive migration policies magnify these harms. It calls attention to the urgent need for non-custodial, community-based alternatives to detention that protect rights, provide access to services, and enable migrants to live with dignity while their cases are resolved.