Life as a man or woman who is transgender can include challenges ranging from severe negative judgment to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity to tragic violence, abuse, suicide, and murder. Many people in society face challenges in life and wish to feel understood, accepted, and respected. Transgender people are no different even if others may not condone or agree with their opinions, beliefs, or perspectives.
The research for this article is based on studies in America and England. It shows that discrimination from family members, colleagues, employers, landlords, and others can push transgender people into illegal activities to survive and can place them at a higher risk of getting in criminal trouble with the law and becoming incarcerated. This article will discuss What Are Some Of The Best Ways For Transgender People To Cope In Prison?
How The Prison Housing
System Affects Transgender Men And Women
The prison experience for men and women who are transgender can
include the difficulties of the outside world. Transgender people experience a
rigid and controlled environment like other vulnerable inmates. This experience
coupled with them being a man or woman who is transgender can make it much more
harmful if others view and treat them more negatively.
The prison housing system is one that is categorized by gender.
As a result of this, one of the most significant problems transgender people
face in prison is housing. Prisons worldwide tend to place transgender people
according to their sex at birth. In the United States, oftentimes, only
transgender women who have undergone sex reassignment surgery can be in women's
prisons. It is imperative to state that not all transgender people have
undergone sex reassignment surgery nor may intend to.
New Jersey and California are among a hand full of U.S. states
that have adopted a policy that requires state prisons to house transgender
people according to their gender identity rather than their sex assigned at
birth. In countries such as England and Wales, transgender people are placed
according to their gender as recognized by the law. Upon completing a sex
reassignment surgery, transgender people can apply to have their legally
recognized gender changed to their acquired gender.
Once this application is approved, transgender people can
receive a Gender Recognition Certificate under the Gender Recognition Act of
2004. Only people with this certificate can live in prison according to their
gender identity.
Typically, transgender people who have not undergone sex
reassignment surgery do not live in prison according to their gender identity.
This situation becomes a precedent for subsequent problems faced in prison, and
affected people are at a higher risk of physical and sexual abuse.
Transgender inmates can also receive a denial of access to a
diagnosis of gender dysphoria and sex reassignment surgery. Gender dysphoria is
a conflict between a person's biological gender and the gender they perceive
themselves to be.
Sex Reassignment Surgery serves to change an individual’s
genitalia to that of the gender they identify as being. Denial of these services
may promote further identity confusion, low self-esteem, self-mutilation, and
an increased risk of mental health issues. Sarah Baker, who identified as a
transgender woman, was serving life imprisonment in the United Kingdom, and reportedly cut off his testicles with a razor. She reportedly became frustrated
with being denied estrogen.
Gay, lesbian, and bisexual prisoners are also a part of the most
vulnerable groups in the prison population when coping with their
incarcerated environment and with their circumstances. Like transgender people,
they are also more prone to physical and sexual attacks from inmates and prison
officials alike. While they mostly live with the general population, some
American prisons have had to separate transgender people due to how vulnerable
their community is in prison.
Members of Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, and Transgender (LGBT) communities can suffer these attacks for being openly gay or lesbian or even being perceived as gay or lesbian. As the years go by, the rate of reported physical and sexual abuse against members of the LGBT community continues to increase.
Issues Faced By The
Transgender Population In Prison
The actual number of the transgender population in prison is unknown.
First, some transgender people may fear revealing their gender identity as it can
predispose them to negative judgment, criticism, and violent attacks by inmates
and prison staff.
Second, research on the experience of transgender people is not as
popular as it could be. It is an under-researched area generally. However, as
of 2019, the United Kingdom counts approximately 163 transgender prisoners.
This number is an underestimate as it does not include people who hold the
Gender Recognition Certificate.
In 2011, the National Transgender Discrimination Survey of the
United States of America in a study revealed that 35% of transgender Americans who
are people of color had been in prison due to what is perceived to be
anti-transgender bias, as opposed to the 4% of white transgender people who
also took part in the survey. Transgender people of color generally had much
higher rates of experiences while in incarceration (47% of people of color against
12% of Caucasian transgender people). The survey also reveals that 38% of
transgender women who are people of color had been sexually assaulted in jail
compared to 12% of Caucasian transgender women prisoners.
In late 2015, two transgender women placed in male prisons,
Vicky Thompson and Joanne Latham, committed suicide. Vicky Thompson had
reportedly said to friends that she would kill herself if she experienced
placement in a male prison. Joanne Latham had never applied for a transfer to a
female prison. These two cases and other similar cases before and after them
indicate that transgender inmates live in dangerous conditions that can force
and often push them to extreme circumstances. Besides the sexual and
physical abuse, transgender inmates have spoken about the indignity that comes
with pat-downs, shared shower areas, denial of gender-affirming dress codes,
and the misuse of pronouns by prison staff and other inmates.
Safety Policies And
Measures That May Help Transgender Inmates To Cope In Prison
Prison policies for transgender inmates are facing review in
some parts of the United States. The U.S. currently has a policy in place that
allows the housing of transgender prisoners to be determined case by case.
Compared to housing transgender people strictly by their sex at birth, it is deemed
a step in the right direction for transgender people.
Some states in the U.S. have additional policies to make prison
life easier for transgender men and women, such as transgender support groups,
workout clubs, allowance of gender-affirming clothes, and so on. In 2015, a
transgender woman imprisoned in California sued the state prison system for denial of access to sex reassignment surgery. California Department of
Correction and Rehabilitation settled the case, the surgery was granted, and a guideline was created for transgender inmates to seek approval for
the surgery.
In 2019, the United Kingdom's Ministry of Justice announced the
opening of a prison unit for transgender inmates. This move came after repeated
calls for a reform of the prison housing system for transgender people. The
Ministry also said that how the United Kingdom's prison system manages
transgender inmates is ongoing. Prison policy topics regarding transgender
inmates are complex, controversial, and multi-dimensional.
However, it is reportedly moving at a fast pace in the United
Kingdom. Generally, it seems like the only way to make it a lot easier for
transgender people to cope in prison is through government or bureaucratic policies
to effect change in the prison housing system along with diversity training and
other considered measures for transgender people.
It is important for transgender men and women to learn about and
utilize all available internal prison and/or external community resources and
agencies, that offer any social and support services for transgender people, before,
during, or after dealing with any incarceration. Everyone in society can stand
to benefit from learning and knowing the laws pertaining to discrimination and
human rights, regardless.
Staying emotionally and physically safe are primary goals. Incarcerated
transgender people should not feel maliciously singled out, mistreated, or
abused regardless of whether other prisoners and staff do not agree with their views,
beliefs, opinions, and/or lifestyles.
Image Source: Pexels
Conclusion
Life as a transgender man or woman in prison can be more difficult
to cope with than it is for other prisoners who are not transgender. Some
people in society may not agree with the views, opinions, and/or lifestyles of incarcerated
transgender men and women. Transgender men and women, like other vulnerable
prisoners or groups, can be subjected to heightened discrimination, violence,
and abuse.
For men and women who identify as transgender, surviving outside
of prison may already pose challenges when seeking to obtain and maintain
employment and housing whether they disclose their gender identity or their
gender identity is questioned. Safety and prison housing issues can also affect
how transgender people cope while in
prison.
Some research from studies in America and England shows that people
who are transgender, like others, may feel compelled to engage in illegal
activities to survive and discrimination from family members, colleagues,
employers, and landlords. Negative stereotypes, a lack of support, and negative
judgment can put them at a higher risk of getting in trouble with the law.
Besides the sexual and physical abuse, incarcerated transgender people
may deal with the indignity that comes with strip searches, pat-downs, shared
shower areas, denial of gender-affirming dress codes, and the misuse of
pronouns by prison staff and other inmates. The transgender experience in
prison can contain the same or similar difficulties of the outside world (or
worse) within a rigid and controlled environment. These challenges and circumstances
can make it much more harmful to how transgender prisoners may cope within a
more rigid and confined environment.
References
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/patrickstrudwick/second-trans-woman-found-dead-in-a-male-prison
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-transgender-prison-inmates-gender-identity-housing/
For more
information on incarcerated transgender people, click the links, below: (Disclaimer:
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purchases.)
Feminized In Prison (Transformation, Feminization,
Transgender) Kindle Edition By Nikki Crescent
Transgender Behind Prison Walls Paperback –
March 15, 2017
by Sarah Jane Baker (Author), Pam Stockwell
(Foreword)