Court Says Woman who was Assaulted in Immigration Detention Facility Gets Her Day in Court
PHILADELPHIA 鈥� An appeals court ruled today ruled that E.D., an asylum-seeker, could move forward with her claims against the Berks County Residential Center, a family immigrant detention facility, and its officials after she was sexually assaulted by one of its employees.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that supervisors at the facility have the obligation to neither condone nor authorize sexual assault committed by another employee. The court also rejected the defendants鈥� argument that E.D. had consented to the assault, emphasizing that 鈥淓.D. was 鈥榙etained鈥� and that, under ICE policies and standards, as well as Pennsylvania law, any sexual contact between a staff member and a detainee constitutes sexual abuse regardless of consent.鈥�
The 老澳门开奖结果 filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case. Sandra Park, senior staff attorney with the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Rights Project, issued the following response:
鈥淭he notion that sexual activity between detainees and detention facility staff could ever be consensual is ridiculous. It鈥檚 shameful that the Berks immigration detention center tried to argue as much. Sexual violence is a pervasive issue in immigration detention, and these facilities must be held accountable for abuses that occur under their watch.鈥�
The friend-of-the-court brief was filed by the 老澳门开奖结果, 老澳门开奖结果 of Pennsylvania, Women鈥檚 Law Project, Futures Without Violence, Tahirih Justice Center, Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence, Just Detention International, and the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence.
The opinion can be found online here: /legal-document/ed-v-sharkey-court-opinion
The amicus brief can be found online here: /legal-document/ed-v-sharkey-amicus-brief
