In a major step towards becoming more tolerant of transgender and gender non-conforming inmates in its criminal justice system, San Francisco will allow trans women housed in a men’s jail to participate in activities at another jail for women.
On Thursday, Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi announced that trans women will now have the option to attend various rehabilitative programs, including substance abuse classes and female empowerment courses, during the day at a women’s facility. The policy will impact six trans or gender-non conforming inmates currently behind bars in the city, although they will still be housed in an isolated part of a men’s jail at night.
By 2016, however, Mirkarimi hopes to implement a policy to house all inmates according to their gender preferences within the next year — regardless of their genitalia — in a push to ensure their safety. In the future, authorities will work with trans advocates to assess the placement and transfer of individual inmates.
“I carry the perspective forward that the transgender population is marginalized on the streets of America,” he explained. “Consider how magnified that treatment is inside prisons and jails.” His department devised the new plan the help of trans rights organizations, but those advocates have already pointed out the limitations of the policy shift.
The incarceration rate of trans people is much higher than the general population, and they are frequently subjected to physical violence and verbal abuse. According to the National Center for Transgender Equality, one in six trans people — and one in five trans women — will be locked up in her lifetime. In California alone, more than half of the trans inmates who participated in a prison violence study reported that they have been raped at least once behind bars. They were also 13 times more likely to be sexually assaulted than other prisoners.
“Unfortunately, while this policy addresses the need of transgender inmates to have equal access to programming, it does not offer an adequate solution to the dramatically increased risk of sexual assault transgender women in prison face,” Flor Bermudez, project director for the Transgender Law Center’s Detention Project, said in a press release. “To truly address sexual and physical assault of transgender detainees, San Francisco must institute policies that bring the city into compliance with the National Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Standards, which require a case-by-case assessment for placement that prioritizes safety.”
Executive Director Janetta Johnson of TGI Justice Project shared that sentiment. “This policy is a step in the right direction, but our community as a whole has to do a lot more to keep these women out of jail in the first place and to make sure that transgender women of color, in particular, can live safely and freely,” she said.
In addition to sexual violence, trans inmates across the country experience other forms of abuse that undermine their human rights. In order to protect them from sexual assault, many correctional facilities place trans inmates in solitary confinement for extended periods of time — a practice that human rights and prison advocates equate with torture. They are also denied medical care and gender-appropriate clothing, as well as basic hygiene products, including toothpaste. While California agreed to let trans inmates undergo gender reassignment surgery, most states prevent inmates from having the procedure done.