Women in the UK, USA and Canada share their accounts of men being housed in women’s prisons.
If sex self-ID becomes law in NSW, male prisoners will be able to easily identify their way into female prisons.
Despite the obvious safety issues posed by placing men in women’s prisons, this is precisely what sex self-ID polices enable. While most males do not assault women, the overwhelming majority of violent crimes are committed by males and the overwhelming majority of victims of sexual assault are females. This is one of many reasons why prisons are sex-segregated.
Yet, in multiple jurisdictions around the world, including here in Australia, female prisoners are forced to share facilities with males who claim to have a female gender identity. Meaning that many women’s prisons are now actually mixed-sex.
Advocates of the practice say that trans-identified males are less likely to be a danger to women, but the evidence suggests otherwise. A study in Sweden found that male pattern offending persists among trans-identified males who have undergone sex-reassignment surgery. Statistics obtained by Fair Play For Women in the UK revealed that in England and Wales “half of the male prisoners who declared themselves transgender in 2019 have been sentenced with one or more sexual offences” compared to only 16% of male prisoners overall (source). Similar statistics are also reported in the US and Canada.
Trans-identified males pose at least the same risk to women as other men. Although some jurisdictions have “safeguarding” measures in place to avoid violent trans-identified male offenders being placed in female prisons, in practice these measures are inconsistently applied or ignored, resulting in violent male offenders being housed in women’s prisons. One such male is currently in a women’s correctional facility in Victoria where the authorities callously disregarded the female prisoners’ petition in protest (stay tuned for a future post about the situation in Australia).
As you’ll hear in the stories below, many trans-identified males in women’s prisons have not undergone any hormonal or surgical interventions, so have their genitals intact. Current and former female prisoners report the men loitering around the showers, engaging in overtly sexual behavior, making threats, physically and sexually harassing inmates, and causing dysfunction in formally cohesive female prison units. Unsurprisingly, numerous rapes and sexual assaults have been committed – all of which were preventable.
The placement of violent trans-identified males in women’s prisons will become the norm if sex self-ID becomes law in NSW via Alex’s Greenwich’s “Equality” bill. Indeed, such males will be entitled to be placed in women’s prisons under this act, and be able to sue for discrimination if they are not. Equality for who? Not for women.
Women prisoners are more likely than other women to have experienced physical abuse, sexual assault, traumatic brain injury, mental illness (depression, PTSD), and poverty. Males who might be at an increased risk of violence in men’s prisons ought to be accommodated in separate units within the male estate, rather than placed in female prisons. Women should not have to endure any further compromise to their safety and dignity in prison. We commend these women for sharing their stories.
Women’s Stories From The Inside
UK: Female former prisoner speaks to Women’s Rights Network UK. In this interview she shares her experience of being in prison with two males, and the impact this had on the safety, dignity and privacy of female inmates and staff.
News story: Mum locked up with violent trans prisoners ‘shaking with fear’ at sharing shower block
UK: Cheryle Kempton is one of four women who were sexually assaulted in a women’s jail by trans-identified male sex offender and convicted pedophile Stephen Wood/Karen White. Despite his history of violent offences against women he was still put in a women’s prison because he self-identified as one. “… the authorities enabled her to assault and prey on us”.
News Report: ‘I was sexually assaulted by a transgender rapist in a women’s jail’
UK: Amy shares her story with journalist Julie Bindel. She was sexually assaulted in a women’s prison by a trans identified male who was incarcerated for sexually assaulting a child. Amy took legal action against the prison after they failed to act. “She would wear very tight trousers which made it obvious she had male genitals. The prison officers protected her more than they did us. They were terrified of being accused of transphobia.”
News report: ‘I was sexually assaulted in a women’s prison… by a fellow inmate with male genitalia’
UK: Maggie, a prison volunteer, shares testimonies from former and current female prisoners about being housed with male offenders, at a protest for single sex prisons. “I was expected to share prison accommodation with the man who sexually assaulted me. This has traumatised me deeply and I can’t understand the cruelty behind this.”
Video: Maggie Speaks at Protest for Single Sex Prisons, London
UK: Rhona Hotchkiss, a former Prison Governor in Scotland, speaks to Women’s Rights Network UK about the impact of placing males with vulnerable women in prison. “The majority don’t identify as trans until they’ve been arrested, or brought to court, or sentenced, or are already in prison.”
Interview: WRN Podcast with Rhona Hotchkiss
CANADA: Women’s Rights group Gender Dissent shares letters from female prisoners in Canada who have been forced to be housed with trans-identified males. “I … feel that men in female institutions have more rights than women, and are more protected.” :
CANADA: Activist Heather Mason discusses the dysfunctional impact of males in women’s prisons in Canada in this interview with Benjamin Boyce.
USA: Tomiekia Johnson is a survivor of domestic violence who is currently serving 50 years for killing her abusive husband in an act of self-defense. She is one of four women being represented by WoLF, who is suing the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The lawsuit seeks to overturn SB 132, a law that permits males to be housed in women’s correctional facilities based on their self-declared “gender identity”. WoLF says “This law has caused pervasive, foreseeable, and well-documented physical and psychological damage to incarcerated women.” Video: Incarcerated Women Speak! Tomiekia’s Story
USA: Amie Ichikawa is the director of Women II Women, a non-profit that provides support and advocacy for incarcerated women. Through WIIW she advocates for the dignity and safety of women in prison, and speaks out about the horrendous impact of sex self-ID on female prisoners in the United States.
Video: Derrick Jensen of Resistance Radio Interviews Amie Ichikawa – Gender self ID violating human rights
Video: Benjamin Boyce Interviews Amie Ichikawa – Men in Women’s Prisons: What Could Go Wrong?
Support our sisters on the inside – Take Action against sex self-ID in NSW.
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