I was there on Saturday. The ladies were really psyched about the demonstration outside. I was one of the people getting people together. I have been outside with Movement for justice when I was out.

It gives people so much hope. The more people that shows up at the demonstration, the more hope that is given to people in here. The more ladies were gathering inside, the more officers were hanging around. This was quite intimidating for the ladies. The ladies would come out from the rooms where they could see the protesters. The officers were saying we should get down from the tables and stop shouting. They were saying they would be put in trouble.

They had set up bingo for the time of the protest and the door is locked the whole time for bingo. So you can’t go outside and see the protest. A few people went. Some people think that the Serco people are going to help them get released. They get scared.

There is one woman, she doesn’t take nonsense from the officers. She will talk back to them. They are always searching her, they don’t give her a break. If they see you hanging around her then the officers say why are you hanging around her? It will go on your file. They don’t like seeing us with her. These things scared people.

From my side on Dove I could say around 50 ladies saw the protest and around 30 were participating with them shouting. But there were also people from the other units who saw it.

The protest was a sort of empowerment. Some people didn’t know about protests but when they saw it they were moved. They kept saying that this is good, this is good. It gives me courage to go on and maybe one day one time they will be closed down.

This is my second time in Yarl’s Wood. When you get to detention centre the first time I hated the fact I was locked up. I was there for 7 months. That time messed me up so much, even when I was outside. The second time is worse. It was harder than before because I was released for three months and now I’m back. It makes me feel that I didn’t do much. For the first 1 and half month of being released, I was still trapped. I didn’t go out, I only went out for appointments. I used to feel that they were watching me like the cameras and the officers. It was weird. I wasn’t able to do anything for my case and I feel like I wasted that time because these things time. People don’t deserve to be in here.

There are different women in here, with different cases and different issues and they’re all put in the same place. And people harm themselves. And even those who don’t think of that, they see it and get scared. It doesn’t make sense. It is a weird place to be in.