''Inmates say guards have warned them that “men are coming” and to expect sexual violence.''

[yourhairiswinterfire]

California prisons begin moving hundreds of transgender women requesting transfer under new law

www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-04-05/california-prisons-consider-gender-identity-housing-requests

Archived version archive.md/9T3zo#selection-1983.9-1983.104

I know we've talked a lot already about prisons, but this just makes me sick. Those poor women :(

From the article:

But more than two hours away, at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, there’s fear. Inmates say guards have warned them that “men are coming” and to expect sexual violence.

“That if we think it’s bad now, be prepared for the worst. That it’s going to be off the hook, it’s going to be jumping,” Tomiekia Johnson, 41, said staffers have told her. “They say we’re going to need a facility that’s going to be like a maternity ward. They say we’re going to have an inmate program where inmates become nannies.”

Any women showing concern are 'transphobic' and need to be ''educated''.

Although advocates and inmates say the transfers have been received well, several claim that misinformation spread by prison staffers is stirring up transphobia and that more must be done to educate inmates.

Transwomen need and deserve to be kept safe too, that should go without saying, but putting one vulnerable group in danger to keep another safe is not the answer. Predators absolutely will exploit this.

I hope a class action lawsuit is on the horizon, but how many women will have to be harmed before it comes to that?

Apparently this person speaks for all transwomen and people who claim to be transwomen when they say that 'they have no plans to be predatory'.

So basically women have to rely on the goodwill of these violent males.

@YouWerePrettyIWasLonely

A cynical part of me reckons they will put the women on some sort of contraception to cover up the rapes. Will there be a high number of them being diagnosed with menstrual issues and having an iud fitted?

I would not be surprised at all. Those women are just fodder, the decision makers don't care. I am just sickened by this.

Aren't indigenous women over represented in prison like In prostitution?

Yes, and black women, like black men are.

www.sentencingproject.org/publications/incarcerated-women-and-girls/

@Ninkanink

Not only that but women must be sacrificed to protect men.

This. No civilised society should be doing this.

Nothing coherent to add but I am fizzing.

What's unbelievable is that men like this seriously believe they're progressive and enlightened, when really they might as well be yelling, 'Hey women, clear up this mess we've made and then fetch me a cup of tea'.

The only worldview which would describe this as "humane" is one which doesn't see women as human.

@yourhairiswinterfire

I hope a class action lawsuit is on the horizon, but how many women will have to be harmed before it comes to that?

Should have added, that of course no amount of money can undo the trauma of being raped or sexually assaulted. It's likely that the majority of these female inmates have already experienced this kind of trauma in the past. Prevention is way better than cure, suing will bring little comfort.

I think the statements highlighted in OP just prove how little women are thought of. Instead of working on solutions that keep everyone safe and comfortable, women have just been completely dismissed and it's been accepted that sexual assault, rape and pregnancies are inevitable.

It's not good enough. I'm heartbroken.

Andrew Sullivan tweeted: A humane but risky experiment whose results we will soon see.

Then To clarify in this no-win debate. It’s meant to be humane to trans women. But it could be very dangerous for women. We’ll see.

twitter.com/sullydish/status/1379071858776141825

''Humane''

It’s the “we’ll see” bit that really gets me. “We’ll see” just how many already vulnerable women are totally fucked over, then we’ll make a decision on whether it was a good idea or not....

I know the alternative wasn’t great but all those who voted for Biden - hope you’re happy now. This makes me feel sick.

risky experiment whose results we will soon see

I'm trying to think if there are any 'risky experiments' on humans whose outcomes are so entirely predictable which would get past an ethics committee.

@Diamondella

I know the alternative wasn’t great but all those who voted for Biden - hope you’re happy now. This makes me feel sick.

Is this not state law rather than federal law?

I've just seen on another thread that Arkansas has stopped all puberty blockers for under 18s.

“We’ll see” just how many already vulnerable women are totally fucked over, then we’ll make a decision on whether it was a good idea or not

Yes ''we'll see'' put me in my mind of those 'ooh, get the popcorn' gifs.

Inmates can request transfers to their correctional counselor, which are then considered by a committee that includes the warden, custody, medical and mental health staffers, and a PREA compliance manager. Staffers review the inmate’s criminal record, health needs, custody level, sentence and safety concerns.

They said the same here in the UK, didn't they? That there are safety measures in place, that any transwomen transferred to female prisons are watched around the clock...but they still somehow managed to place prisoners who sexually assaulted women in the female estate, despite these 'robust' checks. And the sexual assaults still managed to happen despite the 'monitoring around the clock'.

I mean, what's their fucking checking process? ''Are you going to sexually assault anyone?'' ''No.'' ''Okay then'' The point is that there is no way of knowing the good from the bad, the very reason for single sex services in the first place.

Its an appalling violation of the Human Rights of women in prison, a complete dereliction of the Duty of Care owed to female prisoners and a likely associated disregard for female prison guards' workplace protections.

The double standard is astonishing. Men "react badly" to any expression of feminity in male prisons. This is apparently totally understandable and perfectly fine - except that it harms TW. (Never mind any other men perceived as effeminate, they'll just have to suffer. They're probably gay so who cares.)

But if women "react badly" to suggestion that TW (particularly those who are violent and/or sex offenders) should be placed in their prisons, they are being "bigots" and "unkind", which is simultaneously much worse than what the male prisoners would do (because women are judged more for it) and yet also much better because somehow the TW prefer to take the risk of being with the bigots in the female estate than the risks of staying in the male estate.

Men really fucking hate women don't they? I mean, really hate us.

I think our porn soaked culture has revealed just how many men enjoy seeing us humiliated and abused, raped and killed. We are mere prey.

The point is that there is no way of knowing the good from the bad, the very reason for single sex services in the first place.

It's a real world example of Chesterton's Fence and Schrödinger's Rapist.

Wonder how many sex offenders are in the cohort? Read somewhere that in Canada the Inspector of Prisons had said that 60% of male prisoners applying to transfer to female estate were convicted sex offenders.

Again the total conflation of two separate things.

• Trans prisoners are not safe in male prisons.

One serious issue.

However putting those prisoners into women's prisons is not the only possible solution. Yet it's the only thing being considered and the reason being given? They're not safe in male prisons.

And yet they're also very clear about TWAW, that women not on board with this are just prejudiced, that this is about the decision makers signalling their confirmation of gender identity. (And using women prisoners to do it, and telling the women prisoners that they don't get a say in this and will be 'educated' out of any silly ideas that don't fit with the decision makers.)

Why is no one considering the obvious third space?

Because of the whopping great elephant in the situation, that the third spaces lack something absolutely crucial to the decision makers and to the prisoners who would like to be moved.

This is compelling and using non consenting, captive women to validate a political view with their bodies.

I feel physically sick. Those poor poor women.

Wonder how many sex offenders are in the cohort? Read somewhere that in Canada the Inspector of Prisons had said that 60% of male prisoners applying to transfer to female estate were convicted sex offenders.

There will be a significant percentage of male prisoners who are sexual offenders and/or have been abusive/violent to women and/or children but have not been convicted those crimes.

There is no risk assessment process (once being male sex is disregarded) that will recognise this.

Also note that prisoners are to be given the choice of being searched according to their gender in future. This means some poor female prison guards are going to be forced to carry out intimate body searches on males.

I feel sick. Sick and angry. That's all I can say at the moment.

Sorry posted too soon.

Surely that is a form of sexual assault in its own right.

Also note that prisoners are to be given the choice of being searched according to their gender in future.

Prisoners are entitled to request that a female searches them, the female guards don't get a say, they won't be allowed to say no.

Or if they do, they'll be sent off for some ''educating'', if not fired.

@AngelicInnocent

Also note that prisoners are to be given the choice of being searched according to their gender in future. This means some poor female prison guards are going to be forced to carry out intimate body searches on males.

If I was a female guard in that situation I would be very tempted to identify as masc gender-queer.

Does it also apply in that any male prison guards working in women's prisons who identify as having a 'female' gender identity would intimately search female prisoners?