I saw this on Instagram last night and I seriously haven't been able to stop thinking about these poor women since I read it.
Women incarcerated in California's largest women's prison are describing the conditions as "a nightmare's worst nightmare" after the introduction of new pregnancy resources in the Central California Woman's Facility (CCWF) medical clinics. The new resources are a tacit admission by officials that woman should expect to be raped when housed in prison with men, where all sex is considered non-consensual by default within the system.
New posters recently appeared in medical rooms outlining the options available to "pregnant people" in prison, including prenatal care, abortion, and adoption. The poster also declares that woman have the right to "contraceptive counselling and your choice of birth control methods by a licensed healthcare provider within 60 - 180 days prior to scheduled release date." However the only methods available to incarcerated women to prevent pregnancy are condoms, which appeared shortly after the men, and Plan-B emergency contraceptives.
Prior to the passage of SB 132, pregnancies among incarcerated women were vanishingly rare in California women's prisons. Women who entered the justice system already pregnant are typically held in county jail or separate medical facilities until they give birth.
Women's prisons across the state appear to be making final preparations such as these for a massive wave of transfers after nearly 300 requests were initiated following SB 132 going into effect in January of this year. So far, only about 20 of the transfers have been processed (and exactly zero transfer requests have been denied) - leaving hundreds of men, many of whom are sex offenders, awaiting entry into the women's estate.
Speaking to Amie Ichikawa, founder of Woman II Woman and advocate for incarcerated women, one woman currently housed in CCWF said it was like the prison had "given the okay for them to rape us, cause you have a plan to take care of the aftermath."
At a recent CCWF Captain's meeting, one woman read a statement in which she pleaded for help and accused CO's of ignoring their previous concerns of being housed with a serial rapist.
"How do we feel safe in our community? When we reach out for help we get nothing...There has been an assault on a woman and we still are silenced."
"We have had our hope taken away once again. Does anyone care that we are being forced to house with 6'2, 250+ lbs men with penises that are here for brutally raping women? We have been warned by the officials in this prison, more are coming with worse charges."
"Where is the safety concern for us? If we say we are in fear, we are the ones locked up."
www.womensliberationfront.org/california-sb-132-a-disaster-for-incarcerated-women