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 Women's Facility (CCWF) medical clinics. The new resources are a tacit admission by officials that women 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 women have the right to “contraceptive counseling and your choice of birth control methods by a licensed health care 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. (Full poster text, as reported to us from inside).
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 afternearly 300 requestswere 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.
Other secret policies have been put in place as the prisons brace for the influx of violent men. Trusted sources inside California Institute of Women (CIW) tell us that one reason for the backlog in transferring men who have requested transfer is the prison is making the men take a course in how to deal withtheir fears about living with women. In April, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) implemented a new mandatory 16-hour class as a prerequisite for any inmates wishing to transfer. (They also added two classes that the men must take after being transferred, but there are reportedly no consequences for failure to complete those courses.)
The facilities are also increasing security measures in preparation for potentially hundreds of new dangerous and violent men living alongside the vulnerable female inmate population. Women’s prisons have traditionally been lower-security and afforded more privileges to inmates since incarcerated women are less violent than men and pose a lower risk to Correctional Officers (COs) and each other. CCWF’s prison yard, for example, had been home for over three decades to trees which provided shade from the desert sun and a home to local birds. Once the men started coming, the trees were cut down, as they were seen as a security risk. (CCWF denies this happened, despite the first-hand accounts from incarcerated women). The security level of individual male inmates is otherwise completely disregarded once they enter the women’s facility, as prisons opt instead to remove privileges from all inmates.
We believe that all of these policies have been put in place in preparation for processing the over 200 remaining transfer requests. While prison officials may be doing their best to protect women while their hands are tied by the law, the onus of these new policies, as usual, falls largely on the women.
The men who wish to transfer need only take alaughable “Right Person, Right Prison” class— which covers hard-hitting topics like: “You may be asked questions, How will you handle that?”, “Trans fears of being housed with cis”, and “What’s in it for you?”. Apparently, CDCR believes this is an adequate way of screening the men requesting transfer to ensure that housing them with women is appropriate.
The women, meanwhile, are being prepared with free condoms and guidance on how to obtain an abortion in prison.
Speaking to Amie Ichikawa, founder ofWoman II Womanand 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 Captains’ Meeting, one woman read a statement in which she pleaded for help and accused COs of ignoring their previous concerns about 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.”
CDCRclaimedto have considered the risk of pregnancy during the development of SB 132, which allowed inmates to be housed according to their self-proclaimed “gender identity” regardless of their sex and anatomy. As men started entering the facility, however, the facilities seemed unprepared to handle the reality of a mixed-sex prison. Although sexual acts (even “consensual” ones) are prohibited and result in disciplinary action if caught, CCWF startedproviding condoms to inmates. However, there are strict rules regarding their usage including that inmates are not allowed to have more than three condoms on their person at a time, and unwrapped condoms are considered contraband.
The prison has been unable to prevent or stop sexual activity between male inmates housed with incarcerated women, though. Sources tell us there have been incidents of sexual assault, as well as illicit sexual activity between the male inmates and women, putting the women at risk of pregnancy and disease, including HIV, as well as increased risk of disciplinary actions that can affect chances of parole. Avoiding the negative consequences of sex between males and females is, of course, one reason why prisons are single-sex to begin with.
As more men arrive at the women’s facilities, the crisis will only worsen. In just six months since the enactment of SB 132, the number of incarcerated people self-identifying as trans or non-binary (thus becoming eligible to request a facility transfer) has increased from 1,088 to 1,237. The nearly 300 pending transfers are only the beginning of the invasion of women’s prisons by violent male inmates, including convicted murderers and rapists.
“You might as well declare the prison is co-ed and ship us off to Pelican Bay!” one devastated woman currently incarcerated in CCWF said.
WoLF is working closely with incarcerated women impacted by these policies, and we intend to fight from every angle to defend the rights of California’s incarcerated women.
Continues www.womensliberationfront.org/news/ca-womens-prisons-anticipate-pregnancy-sb123
Why don't people care about this more?
I've known for years that people didn't care that much about prisoner welfare, but this takes it to another level. People aren't just averting their eyes to avoid learning about it, they're ignoring the information after they've been told.
If you are in favour of separating prisons by gender instead of sex, how many extra rapes are an acceptable price to you for that change?
How many extra rapes would have to occur within women's prisons before you would oppose male prisoners being placed with female prisoners?