An intellectually handicapped asylum seeker, who was deprived of her medication by authorities on Christmas Island and then separated from her mother, has begun exposing herself to male detainees, prompting fears she could be sexually assaulted.
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Advocates for the Iranian woman, who is 35 years old but has the mental age of a young child, fear she may be attacked because she is lifting up her clothing and showing herself to the men at the Perth Immigration Detention Centre.
Some of those detained have criminal convictions and are awaiting deportation.
Victoria Martin-Iverson, who is acting on behalf of the woman and her family, said the problem began because her medication was stopped upon arrival on Christmas Island. As a result, she became so behaviourally disturbed she could not remain on the island.
''Within 10 days she became deeply disturbed, screaming, rolling in the dirt, exposing herself, and was subsequently brought to Perth with her father for medical treatment,'' she said.
Ms Martin-Iverson said even though her medication had been resumed, she was still unstable and needed to be in the care of her mother who has remained on Christmas Island. But pleas to the Immigration Department have been ignored.
''You never heard anything as heartbreaking as this woman with intellectual impairment sobbing and crying continuously, '[translated from Persian] Where my Mummy, I want make dead, I want Mummy.' Over and over and over,'' Ms Martin-Iverson said. ''It is sickening.''
Immigration Minister Scott Morrison told the Operation Sovereign Borders briefing on Friday he was ''very confident that medical professionals that are providing her with care have the appropriate reasons for the care that they are providing''.
The woman's circumstances came amid revelations 15 doctors who treated asylum seekers on Christmas Island wrote a scathing report that there were ''gross departures'' from standard medical practices that ''caused considerable harm'' to detainees.
Mr Morrison said the concerns were being investigated but any deficiencies were a legacy of Labor's policy and its inadequate funding of medical services. The Abbott government has announced it will spend $1.2 billion extra to manage asylum seekers.
The report was sent to the doctors' employer, International Health and Medical Services, and detailed a case where a detainee with tuberculosis went untreated for 44 days, providing a public health risk. It also said drugs needed by patients and requested by doctors were frequently not provided.
Ms Martin-Iverson said the father had been told the family would be sent to Nauru and his daughter would remain in Perth.
