For women seeking asylum in the UK the tales of persecution, flight and exile, of children and families left behind, and months and often years lost in the bureaucratic cruelties of the asylum system continue

“I'd prefer, rather than going to a detention centre ... to be in prison for the rest of my life,” said Cecilia. Debora Singer works with women seeking asylum in the UK and argues that it is high time that the gender sensitive culture developed for women in the criminal justice system is transferred into the asylum system.