Robert contacted me, frantic. His fiancée, Paula, is currently serving time in a southern state prison, and has so far served four months of what could be a thirty-six month sentence. Paula is a transgender woman. But Paula was placed in an all male prison to serve out her sentence.
Paula called Robert from prison. He didn't recognize the number. She was calling from the detective's office. Crying and inconsolable, she told Robert an inmate "took advantage" of her. Distraught, Robert asked her if she has been raped and she said, "yes," by one of her cellmates.
The calls since then have been about Paula's hopelessness and her fear of the guards, as well as the other inmates. Robert is frustrated that no one is fighting for her.
"She is not human to them. The guards all call her "'it,'" he said. "It's not fair, it's not right."
Like other transgender people, Paula is housed in the prison that is determined by her physical gender. Yet Paula has been on hormones for almost eighteen months. She is a small statured 21-year-old transgender woman, five foot six, and one hundred and twenty pounds. Because she hasn't had "bottom" surgery she is legally considered a man. Yet she has breasts and obvious signs of female transition.
Robert says, "The State is housing a woman in a man's prison."
This a serious issue many transgender people face; being actively incarcerated they are fearful of being threatened, abused, beaten and even raped in prison. Being assaulted by cell mates or other incarcerated inmates can happen when transgender people are put into the wrong prisons, into all male facilities when they are clearly male to female, or a female to male. Any transgender person is at risk of being hurt and bullied in prison, or even when doing short stints in jail. The risks are not talked about often enough. There are transgender advocates who are working on these issues, but not given the power to bring about change in these situations. In our current climate of institutionalization and crowded prisons, we are in a country that suffers from lack of prison reform.
Robert is a graduate student getting a PhD in Chemistry, and a second year business student. He said, "I can't defend her, I can't protect her. No one is defending her rights because she is trans," he said with frustration. "The guards," he feels, "are allowing my transgender girlfriend to be abused and assaulted while she is serving time in jail for a violation of probation."
Paula reports to Robert that she is in protective custody now. She is currently in a pod twenty-three hours a day, and only let out one hour a day to exercise. She has requested permission to pursue her GED, and not received any information so far. She tells Robert she feels afraid every day.
Caitlyn Jenner recently spoke out and expressed the same fears in her CBS interview when she was interviewed about her potential jail time for a past car accident and the complications that she must face. Unlike Jenner, Paula has little or no resources, no media coverage and no money to help her. She has already been attacked, and faces continued problems in jail.
Caitlyn Jenner has worked as an advocate for transsexuals by making her transition public. In a culture where a lack of information about how to help transsexuals face prejudice and even violence, this has helped. But Caitlyn has faced scrutiny because of her visibility and wealth which has enabled her to afford surgery, hormone treatment and legal representation, something many people cannot do as they transition.
Robert feels hopeless to help. Perhaps we all feel helpless to make changes. The hope is that the more awareness increases around the risks, the more advocacies for transgender rights will increase and the less people like Paula have to suffer during incarceration.
Prison reform, transgender advocacy and human rights are the next step in the cultural shift that has to happen to bring all of humanity into alignment with our basic rights to safety and respect.
Inmates in the recent past have won lawsuits for similar cases. Jurist reports, "Attorneys for a Maryland transgender inmate said Thursday that their client had won relief under the Prison Rape Elimination Act, marking the first such successful challenge. The inmate, Sandy Brown, claimed that guards called her "it" and "some kind of animal" while encouraging her to kill herself. Brown was segregated form the rest of the prison population for 66 days and said, "the guard told me I should kill myself, and that I'm not a woman, that I'll never be her."
"An attorney for Brown said, [w]e believe this case creates a framework for enforcing the national standards that transgender people who are incarcerated in other states and their advocates can follow to help to ensure that others do not have to endure the pain and trauma Ms. Brown experienced."
The NY Times reported rape and attack in a men's prison where Ashley Diamond, a transgender woman, sued the state of Georgia and Baldwin State Prison. She wanted to continue her hormone treatments in prison and was denied. Diamond also demanded safer housing, and to continue her identity as a woman.
For more information, and to help, go to http://www.transequality.org/know-your-rights.
Also, for those who want to help, the Guide to Being a Trans Ally published by the PFLAG National's Straight For Equality Project can help guide advocates in the right direction.