It was like the prison had given the okay for them to rape us

[SnoopyLights]

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

@Frootloops4life

think it's because a lot of people deep down want and enjoy the thought of "bad" women being sexually punished and abused.

Bollocks. Most women have been sexually abused and punished, they're not for it. Ever.

It's because realistically the media is keeping this from people and most people rightfully assume that no heterosexual male with a dick would be put into a women's prisons. The few who are ok with it, believe in lady brains negating the dick, because they're a bit stupid.

And frankly a lot of men just don't give a shit or are prepared to risk women for a few woke points.

I don't think this IS bollocks. I am on a book forum that happens to have a lot of quite conservative American women on it, and that is very much the sort of thing they'd think. They are against prisoners having much in the way of rights at all, very much of the mindset of 'they deserve whatever they get' while in prison, shouldn't be given access to 'free' stuff like education or therapy, etc., and would argue that if they hadn't done something wrong in the first place, they wouldn't be in there, so it's their own fault (totally ignoring the larger pictures of why women might have ended up in prison). These are the same people who are to a large extent against government providing any sort of benefits (people shouldn't have got themselves in the situation to need them; why should our taxes be used to support someone else, etc), against abortion (women are seen as 'deserving' pregnancy, labour, birth, single parenthood, whatever, because they got pregnant in any situation other than a christian marriage), against any sort of rehabilitation, for capital punishment, etc.

I find it shocking to read these views from people that I knew from discussing books, and who seem generally to be perfectly ordinary women that I shared interests with - until the discussion veers off topic, and you read some of the things they think (and possibly say) - and then you realise that things like believing that prisoners deserve anything they get would be quite aligned with their views, and not unusual in certain sections of the population.

I don't think this is the main reason that there isn't an outcry; I am sure that most of it IS because of the media, or the misunderstanding among many people that trans people are old-school transsexuals who have had surgery, or the disbelief that men would ever be put in a women's prison. But I think there is definitely a section of population who are thinking (to themsevles, or openly) 'it's their own fault for ending up in prison, and they've brought on whatever punishment they get themselves'.

'it's their own fault for ending up in prison, and they've brought on whatever punishment they get themselves'.

I know it's difficult to generalise across different countries and prison systems but I find the lack of understanding of/empathy for why women end up in prison to be breathtaking.

From a UK perspective, it's not unusual for women to have been sentenced for failure to pay fines or otherwise being in chronic debt that has brought them in contact with the criminal justice system. Added to which are the usual issues about the high incidence of a history of domestic and intimate partner violence overlapping with a history of TBIs and that's before considering vulnerability to coercive control.

Women in prison will often be vulnerable. Prison is punishment, and it is right that people ‘pay for’ their crimes there needs to be acceptance that there are many reason why women make bad decisions.

I find this story extraordinarily upsetting. The courts are not empowered to sentence women to rape and unwanted pregnancy. Yet this is the logical outcome that prisons are preparing for. Women prisoners have not been asked, nor listened to. They are voiceless.

It’s like the vulnerable young girls in Rotherham who were assumed to be sluts and whores.

What is wrong with this world, where men make the decisions and women bear the consequences.

@Needmoresleep

Women in prison will often be vulnerable. Prison is punishment, and it is right that people ‘pay for’ their crimes there needs to be acceptance that there are many reason why women make bad decisions.

I find this story extraordinarily upsetting. The courts are not empowered to sentence women to rape and unwanted pregnancy. Yet this is the logical outcome that prisons are preparing for. Women prisoners have not been asked, nor listened to. They are voiceless.

It’s like the vulnerable young girls in Rotherham who were assumed to be sluts and whores.

What is wrong with this world, where men make the decisions and women bear the consequences.

I thought of the girls from Rotherham too when I read about the woman who was punished for saying she was raped and wasn't believed. Troublemakers who deserve what they get.

It's truely awful.

#whatwouldelizabethfry say

@PamDenick

#whatwouldelizabethfry say

Yes.

tbh, what with one thing and another, I think some of the social reformers and activists from the late nineteenth century might recognise an astonishing number of social problem that are still with us, despite all of the progress.

I'm ashamed and angry.

Women in the US aren't standing for it, nor should you.

Aug 22nd, love this promo "not now not ever...it's time to get off of the internet and onto the streets"

That's great but I suspect there are few green shoots and most is still scorched earth.

I looked up WoLF the other day, as I had vaguely understood, probably based on something I had skim read, it to be some sort of Christian Right" organisation, so was trying to square that with something constructive they were doing. .

According to Wiki (who as expected cannot be trusted to be neutral):

"While rejected by progressive organizations and considered fringe by the feminist mainstream, who suggest the group conceals an essentially discriminatory right-wing ideology under the guise of feminism, the organization has found influence through collaboration with conservative groups on shared legislative views. Though the predominant focus of WoLF has been on transgender issues, it also approves of abortion rights and favors action to combat violence against women."

Yes..Wiki thinks it is all about trans with action to combat violence against women is a side issue.

Not surprising then is the WoLF FAQ

www.womensliberationfront.org/news/faq-wolf-work-with-conservatives

Essentially they feel as if they are on their own on the left. as they say "Forcing liberal purity politics on radical feminist organizations only succeeds in further crippling our movement."

In the meantime so-called feminist groups are saying virtually nothing about a dehumanising and dangerous policy of housing biological males in their prisons.

The core issue, surely, is combatting violence against women.

I've seen another post on Instagram now, from WoLF, stating that they have been told at least one women in the prison is now pregnant as a direct result of men being housed there.

Right, this is horrendous.
Before I go further, I need to double check sources.
How can I check sources (I do believe it but I want to be able to quote sources, not just Twitter...)
THEN, we need a MASSIVE spamming of high profile ‘feminists’.
Where is Emma Watson? Margaret Atwood? Caitlin Moran? Kim Kardashian (hasn’t she done some work with prisoners??)

@PamDenick

Right, this is horrendous. Before I go further, I need to double check sources. How can I check sources (I do believe it but I want to be able to quote sources, not just Twitter...) THEN, we need a MASSIVE spamming of high profile ‘feminists’. Where is Emma Watson? Margaret Atwood? Caitlin Moran? Kim Kardashian (hasn’t she done some work with prisoners??)

None of those women will care. They are lib fems who put men's feelings above women's needs.

Here's the article linked to in the tweet: www.womensliberationfront.org/news/ca-womens-prisons-anticipate-pregnancy-sb123

There are sources quoted but they're anecdotal as you'd expect from women who are locked up or afraid of losing their jobs.

Ok. Thanks for the link.

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ripx4nutmeg @ripx4nutmeg
A male who has been convicted of bombing a mosque has told a court 'she' now identifies as a woman. Emily Hari said 'her' gender dysphoria was the cause of 'her' terrorism, and has therefore asked for a lesser sentence and to be housed in a women's prison

www.ctpost.com/news/article/Mosque-bombing-convict-wants-transgender-identity-16408086.php