Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining
us today for “Not Alone: How To Help Transgender
Survivors In Detention (Part 1).”
My name is Carolina Aparicio, program officer
at JDI, and I’ll be your moderator today.
JDI is a health and human rights organization
that works to end sexual violence in all forms
of detention.
JDI has three core goals: to hold government
officials and agencies accountable for sexual
abuse in their facilities, to change public
attitudes about sexual violence behind bars,
and finally, to ensure survivors of prisoner
rape get the help they need to heal.
We would like to take a moment to thank the
Office On Violence Against Women for its generous
support of this webinar and our larger project
called “No Bad Victims: Support For Incarcerated
Survivors.”
So I just want to go over a few things before
we get started.
I want to remind you that some of what we’re
going to be discussing today may be hard to
hear or upsetting, so please take care of
yourselves.
This webinar will be recorded, so you’ll
have an opportunity to revisit it later, if
necessary.
You can submit questions and comments throughout
the webinar using the questions box on the
right side of your screen, and here is a little
example up on your screen of what that looks
like.
The webinar is being recorded, as I mentioned,
and we’ll be posting that on our website,
JustDetention.org/Advocate-Resources, and
that’ll go up in the next few days, and
it will be closed-captioned.
We’ll send you more information later today
in an email, including a link to an evaluation.
We have a wide range of other resources available
on our website for advocates, and we’ll
review those in more detail at the end of
today’s webinar.
This webinar is the first part of our series
on helping transgender survivors of sexual
abuse in detention.
The aim of this series is to help community-based
rape crisis organizations and other service
providers like yourselves understand the issues
facing transgender survivors in adult and
juvenile detention and ways that you can help
these survivors heal.
Today we’ll cover the following: trans basics,
including how to communicate effectively with
trans people, the risks facing trans survivors
in detention, and the prevalence of sexual
abuse in detention for trans survivors.
We’ll hear from Kerri Cecil, a transgender
woman who survived sexual abuse in a men’s
prison.
We’ll talk about ways that advocates can
serve trans survivors in detention settings,
and we’ll end with some time for questions
and answers.
A quick note on some terms, before moving
on.
While law enforcement prosecutors and victims’
rights groups tend to use the term “victim”
to refer to someone who has been sexually
abused, they do this in recognition of the
crime that was committed.
JDI prefers to use the term “survivor.”
We do this to honor the strength and resiliency
it takes to live through a sexual assault
and for that person to heal.
The terms “inmates” and “prisoners”
will be used interchangeably to refer to incarcerated
people.
If you have any questions about a specific
term or anything at all about today’s webinar,
please use the questions box and a JDI staff
member will assist you.
So before we get started, I’d like to get
an idea of what you are hoping to learn from
today’s webinar, and I’ll just give you
just a minute to submit your answers by typing
that into the questions box.
I am seeing “Just general understanding
of trans people,” “Ways to help.”
Great.
Lots of great answers.
I hope that we get to a lot of what you want
to learn today throughout our webinar.
“How to work with correctional facility
to support survivors,” “How to make their
incarceration easier.”
These are great and really indicate that we
are talking to people who want to help, so
thank you so much for being here today.
We’ll answer as many of them as we can throughout
the webinar, and again, if we don’t get
to something, feel free to reach out to us
afterwards by email at Advocate@JustDetention.org.
So now I have the pleasure of introducing
Michael Munson, who is the co-founder and
executive director of FORGE, an organization
focused on improving the lives of transgender
individuals by building stronger connections,
providing resources, and empowering growth
through knowledge.
FORGE is a national training and technical
assistance provider funded through the Department
of Justice Office On Violence Against Women.
Michael’s educational background is in psychology
with an emphasis on trauma informed care and
nontraditional healing modalities.
His work on violence against transgender and
gender nonconforming individuals stresses
the intersectionality between complex components
of identity, experience, and societal constructs
that can both spur violence, as well as catalyze
healing for individuals and communities.
He is passionate about engaging professionals
to embrace these complexities and learn key
skills to better serve their clients and constituents.
Thank you so much for being here with us today,
Michael.
Thank you.
I’m always [muted] when I have the opportunity
to work with JDI, so I really appreciate being
involved with this webinar and I really appreciate
too the work that JDI continues to do to support
transgender issues and transgender survivors.
So why don’t we get started and we’ll
talk about some trans basics.
So let’s just dive in and get going.
We have come a really long way.
We have moved from a place where what we knew
about trans people were the sensationalized
stories of Christine Jorgensen to a place
where we see vibrant trans people in the news
every single day, if we’re paying attention.
We see people like Janet Mock, who is on the
right side of your screen, who is part of
the mainstream dialogue about gender and trans
issues.
We have also come a long way in terms of people
are coming out at a younger and younger age,
and people are also able to come out later
in life and are also feeling free to explore
their gender when they’re older.
We have also come a long way as we’ve moved
from a place of pathology, where the Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual has formerly classified
trans people and gender nonconforming people
as having a disorder, Gender Identity Disorder,
to now, where the DSM has shifted to calling
it Gender Dysphoria and a bunch of other things.
It’s still pathologized, but a little bit
less so.
The quote on the screen is by Lin Fraser,
who was the president of the World Professional
Association for Transgender Health.
At a recent conference, she said, “No one’s
identity is a disorder.”
As we talk about trans people today, let’s
keep this in mind, that no one’s identity
is a disorder.
So who are we talking about?
Each of us brings with us a different mental
image, theoretical framework, or academic
construct about what transgender means and
what we understand when we say the word “transgender.”
I hope by the end of this webinar, whatever
your current knowledge is or beliefs are,
that you’ll have a more expanded concept
of who trans people are and how to work more
effectively with trans clients.
When we hear or see the words “transgender”
or any of those other hundreds of words that
might be synonyms or closely allied words,
we each have an image that comes to mind.
Each of us, if asked, would describe who transgender
people are in a little bit different way,
and that’s a really, really good thing.
So I’m not going to define terms because
that will not help us understand who trans
people are.
Defining terms just gives us more labels to
assign to people, rather than truly understanding
who each person is.
So who are we going to talk about?
Who are we talking about when we use the word
“transgender” or when we’re talking
about who is included under the very broad
spectrum of people who may identify as trans
or previously trans?
We’re talking about people who are gender
nonconforming or people who may intentionally
or not blur stereotypical cultural lines of
binary or the either/or gender.
We’re talking about people who transition
from one gender to another.
We’re also talking about people who are
questioning their gender or who may not feel
like the gender that they were assigned at
birth fits who they are today.
We’re also talking about including people
who don’t fit the binary, people who may
identify with a gender other than male and
female.
We’re also talking about people who are
gender conforming, so people who may have
a trans history but who now view themselves
as male or female and not as trans anymore.
We’re also talking about people who may
have multiple gender identities or are multiply-gendered
people, so they may live part of their lives
as different genders or they may identify
as more than one gender.
And at FORGE, we talk about who is trans or
who is in the trans community as also including
significant others, friends, family, and allies.
So on the screen in a second, there is going
to be a word cloud, and I created this from
one of our handouts on our website, which
includes 101 words that some trans people
use to describe their gender identity.
There are literally limitless ways and words
to describe transgender experiences and identities.
Depending on how people self-identify or how
others may impose an identity or a label on
people, we don’t really know what percentage
of the population is transgender, gender nonconforming,
or non-binary.
But much of the research suggests that around
1% of the population is trans, keeping in
mind that we really don’t know what that
number is.
So this previous word cloud and the one that’s
coming up, the previous one has just a few
trans-focused words, and that might have been
overwhelming to look at.
It might seem like trans people have a lot
more words to describe themselves than non-trans
people.
So I wanted to provide just a little bit of
balance, so I created a word cloud that was
based on the word “man” and “male.”
And as you can see, this is just a fraction
of the words that people may identify with
or have assigned to them if they’re a man
or if they’re male.
So examples could be things like “fellow”
or “son” or “boyfriend,” “gentleman,”
“Mister,” “metrosexual,” “father,”
lots and lots of different words.
So we all have different words that we use
to describe ourselves.
So as I mentioned, FORGE generally doesn’t
include terms and definitions when we train,
and the reason that we don’t give definitions
is summed up in what we call the “terms
paradox.”
The terms paradox teaches us that on the one
hand, identity labels and the like are absolutely
critical.
To be culturally competent, you need to find
out what terms a person uses and refers to
themselves and then reflect those terms back
to them.
This use of a client’s terms tells them
that you respect their right to self-define
and that you’re listening to them.
The paradox though is that the terms that
people use are often less than meaningful
for a couple of reasons.
First, definitions and terms are really hotly
debated within the trans community and beyond.
They are discussed and they are disputed,
again, both within the trans community and
outside of it.
And the terms are constantly changing and
evolving.
The second reason around the paradox is that
what you really need to know about trans people
in order to serve them appropriately likely
isn’t going to come from an identity term
or a label that they have put on themselves.
What you’ll hear today will shed light on
individuals, on experiences, on specific situations,
on some areas where we might be able to generalize
but often it’s not going to be generalizable
because someone shares a particular limited
term to define themselves.
So last June 2014, the Office For Victims
Of Crime released “Responding To Transgender
Victims Of Sexual Assault Toolkit” and it
was based on 11 core documents that were part
of a grant that we were involved in.
It was 450 pages worth of those 11 documents.
And we worked closely with OVC to transform
those documents into a more interactive online
toolkit.
The toolkit offers both 101 content and extensive
transsexual assault specific information for
service providers.
I really encourage you to take a look at it
and explore what this toolkit has to offer.
It includes many links, both to FORGE’s
website and to other resources.
As you can see on this next slide, there is
three basic areas in this toolkit.
One is Transgender 101, lots of information
about 101 materials.
The second area is Sexual Assault In The Trans
Community, so some ideas around statistics
and other information there.
And then the third main section is around
Tips For Those Who Serve Trans Victims, so
that may be the most interesting for a lot
of people.
So this next graphic on the screen is the
core of the 101 presentations that we facilitate
and it’s how the toolkit organized the 101
information as well.
As you can see from this image, it has some
givens at the bottom, so sexual orientation
and gender identity are some givens.
And then when we move to the midsection, the
second section is about choices or actionable
items that trans people may take, so things
like name or pronoun, level of disclosure,
relationships, name and gender and documentations,
gender expression, medical, legal, or social
options.
And that third section on the top is about
kind of un-choices or the non-choices, so
these are other people’s prejudices, the
ability for somebody to pass, which is a little
bit of a contested word, or present as the
gender that they identify as, and other people’s
choices or behaviors.
So let me take a moment just to describe gender
identity and gender expression.
So first, gender identity is an individual’s
internal sense of being male, female, something
in-between, or another gender that’s not
necessarily visible to other people.
We all have a gender identity, and for most
of us, it’s male or female.
As we saw before, there are literally hundreds
of gender identities.
Remember that word cloud that I showed you
a couple minutes ago.
So gender identity is what is in somebody’s
head.
It’s how they view themselves and their
gender.
In contrast to gender identity, gender expression
is how a person expresses their gender through
clothing or grooming, speech, hairstyle, body
language, social interactions, or other types
of behaviors.
This is what other people see.
Of course, it’s possible that others are
not seeing what we might hope for them to
see.
They may be misreading cues that we’re sending
out.
Again, we all make choices around how much
effort we put forth to follow societal norms
around gender expectations and how much time
and effort we spend on looking a particular
way.
Again, there are hundreds of choices related
to gender expression and other gender related
options.
So sometimes pictures speak a lot louder than
words, and I know that not all of you have
access to the slides, but there are four pictures
on the slide right now, and the people on
the slide could be included under the trans-feminine
spectrum.
You might hear these people refer to themselves
as “trans-women” or “women of trans-history”
or “male to female transsexuals” or “cross-dressers”
or any number of other words.
These are individuals were assigned male at
birth but now identify or live some or all
of their life in a more feminine way, either
as female or expressing more stereotypically
feminine characteristics.
In contrast, on this next slide you’ll see
these people may refer to themselves as “trans-men”
or “female to male” or “stud” or “drag
king” or “formerly transgender” or any
number of other words.
These people were assigned female at birth
but identify or live some or all of their
life in a more masculine way, either as men
or expressing stereotypically masculine characteristics.
And this last picture related slide is about
non-binary or a-gender folks.
The language associated with the images on
this slide is shifting the most in the past
several years.
It’s critical to keep in mind that not everyone
identifies as either male or female or even
as heading in one of those two directions.
Many people identify as multiple genders or
no gender at all.
Some people intentionally challenge the binary
gender norms.
There are many ways people can live and be
that do not conform to gender binaries.
People who are gender nonconforming, a-gender,
or non-binary in their gender identity or
in their gender expression may have been assigned
either male at birth or female at birth or
sometimes, in rare cases, as intersex.
They may or may not take steps to socially,
legally, or medically transition.
So for many folks, aligning gender identity
and gender expression is very important.
Some people who may use the help of three
major areas to make that alignment, so social,
medical, and legal.
Every person makes unique choices with this
set of options.
Some people’s goal is to transition from
one gender to another, while other people
may take action to reach a different point
of emotional and physical wholeness, which
may include a limited number of actions in
these three areas.
So social choices or transition, what that
generally means is coming out or not coming
out and creating a personal environment in
which a person’s gender identity is known
and ideally respected by others, such as friends,
family, and coworkers.
Medical choices or transitions can generally
involve things like hormones or surgical interventions,
again, to align somebody’s body more so
with their gender identity and allow people
to feel more comfortable in their own skin.
And the third thing is legal choices or transition,
so some people choose to change their identity
documents to have a name and/or gender marker
that reflects their current identity.
So on that first graphic with the picture
of the person on it, the non-choices were
at the top.
So we haven’t talked too much in detail
about the choices and behaviors people can
take around their gender.
To learn more about those things, I encourage
you to look at the 101 material on FORGE’s
website or the OVC toolkit.
But I did want to talk about these non-choices
for a second.
So the first of these three non-choices include
things like prejudice.
So this can be from an individual or from
a broader societal prejudice or structure.
Passing is another thing that’s not within
the trans person’s control or choice.
A person may try to present their gender in
a very specific way and anticipate that others
will see them in the way that they wish to
be seen.
Unfortunately, sometimes others will see a
person who is trans and will guess or presume
that they are trans based on their appearance.
For example, a trans-woman might be wearing
a dress, makeup, heels, and have other overtly
traditionally feminine cues, but other people
may still perceive her to be male.
The third non-choice is about other people’s
choices.
So this cloud encompasses many different choices,
but it might be something like a trans person
might not be in control if their boss decides
to fire them because they’re trans.
So some of you might be thinking, “I don’t
get it.”
A lot of times we get hung up on language,
which to be honest, is a really important
variable in treating trans people respectfully.
What is sometimes difficult to understand
is that there isn’t one list of right words
or wrong words.
The reality is that what’s right is what
your client tells you, how they refer to themselves,
what language they have indicated they use
and they prefer for you to use as well.
Conversely, that means that the only wrong
language is using words and phrases that are
intentionally in contradiction with what your
client has indicated is comfortable for them
and aligns with their identity and experience.
So if there isn’t a right or wrong list
of terms and definitions to study and learn,
you might be wondering, “How do I get it
right?”
And the answer is pretty simple.
It’s to listen, to listen really carefully.
And sometimes that’s easier said than done.
And when we listen carefully, we ask relevant
questions, we listen some more, we might ask
some clarifying questions, but then we listen
some more.
We’re going to be treating people with an
incredible amount of respect and dignity.
I wanted to leave you with a couple of quick
resources.
You saw the OVC FORGE toolkit on a previous
slide.
Our website is also another resource that
is full of a lot of information.
I encourage you to check that out.
And specifically on our website are webinars
and all of our webinars are recorded and I
encourage you to listen to them both by yourself
or as an agency.
One of the things that we’re finding out
is that a lot of agencies are listening to
webinars as a group and then using them for
jumping-off points for deeper discussion with
their colleagues and their coworkers.
So I’d like to end this segment with this
quote.
Many of you will recognize Laverne Cox in
this image.
She has been a really powerful voice for trans
people in her acting and activism with her
ability to provide clear and direct comments
and response to ignorance and lack of education
and understanding, from her role on Orange
Is the New Black to her very on-point and
firm confrontation of people like Katie Couric,
many of which you have seen that interview.
So Laverne states, “It is revolutionary
for any trans person to be seen and visible
in a world that tells us we should not exist.”
Many of you may never have worked with a trans
client, in part because it’s so difficult
for trans people to be visible in a world
that says they shouldn’t exist.
I selected this quote too because not too
many years ago it was a revolutionary act
for service providers and professionals to
be willing to sit in a training like this,
to talk about transgender issues.
Both trans people and providers are often
faced with stigma and feelings of vulnerability,
so thank you for being bold and for being
here today so that we can all be more visible.
Thank you so much, Michael.
I think that really provides such a great
foundation, as a lot of our listeners are
going to be working with transgender survivors
in detention, so I really appreciate that.
I’d now like to take a look at some statistics
and dynamics to help frame the issue of trans
people in detention.
The US Department of Justice indicates that
2.7% of the US population will be imprisoned
at some point in their life.
This figure, however, does not include jails.
In other reports by the Bureau of Justice
Statistics, the rate could be as high as 5.1%
of the general population.
This rate, however, is dramatically lower
than the rates of incarceration that trans
people face.
In a very large-scale survey with over 6,400
respondents, the National Transgender Discrimination
Survey reported that 16% of respondents had
been incarcerated at some point in their lives.
Many reasons contribute to why trans people
have higher rates of incarceration.
Based on literature reviews and reported experiences
by trans people, we know that several factors
increase trans people’s risk of incarceration.
Many trans people experience emotional, physical,
and sexual abuse in school, which can lead
to difficulties learning and even to many
young people dropping out of school.
Without a high school diploma or GED, employment
options become extremely limited.
In addition to bullying and other violence
in school, trans youth may experience childhood
physical or sexual abuse or emotional abuse
by family members.
Families and communities may also reject young
and older trans people in some cases, leaving
trans people homeless.
For those trans people who were able to finish
high school or beyond, employment discrimination
is widespread.
These factors and many others may drive individuals
into the underground economy, surviving through
sex work or selling drugs.
The National Transgender Discrimination Survey
also found that over twice as many male to
female individuals or 21% are detained in
comparison to female to males, which is 10%.
The rates for those who identify as gender
nonconforming is 12%.
And we also know that a disproportionate number
of black trans-women are in custody at some
point in their lives.
We know that trans people face discrimination
and abuse at much higher rates when they’re
in custody.
Trans people are often mis-gendered by the
criminal justice system, meaning that policies
and procedures that are defined by gender,
like housing and searches, are very often
determined by genitals, not by gender.
Even if a transgender person has legal documents
with their correct gender identified, if they
have not had genital surgery, they are likely
to be placed by genital configuration.
Many trans people may not have had genital
surgery for a variety of reasons.
Trans people are often denied access to hormones
and other trans-specific healthcare while
incarcerated, as well as are often forced
to change gendered characteristics of appearance
in prison.
This often results in mental anguish and increased
exposure to harassment and violence, and Linda
and Michael will go over this in much more
detail later today.
And then finally, trans people are often isolated
or subjected to increased sexual violence,
harassment, and other types of abuse at the
hands of prisoners and corrections staff.
We have heard from many transgender women
in custody who talk about the constant sexual
harassment and humiliation they experience
by staff and other inmates alike.
Sarah, who identifies as a transsexual woman,
told us “The prison personnel seemed obsessed
with making me a man.
They denied me a razor so I could have a ‘manly’
beard.
They beleaguered me with gender and sexual
slurs, and chanted ‘Mister” at me.
They constantly told me that I have a penis,
while calling me John.”
So there isn’t a lot of widespread research
available on the rates of sexual abuse faced
by trans people behind bars.
However, one California based study found
that close to 60% of transgender women in
California state men’s prisons reported
sexual abuse by staff or by other inmates.
That’s compared to just 4% of non-transgender
men.
We also know from research by the Bureau of
Justice Statistics that gender nonconforming
people in women’s prisons are targeted more
often by staff.
And similarly, more trans-women experience
sexual assault while incarcerated than trans-men
in actual numbers.
Part of the reason for that is, as we showed
just a few slides ago, that there are more
trans-women in detention than trans-men.
And the fact is we don’t know that much
about the experiences of trans-men in detention.
There has been little targeted research and
the majority of trans survivors who we hear
from here at JDI are women.
We hear over and over again that in prison
there is a presumption that transgender women
want and seek sexual attention and therefore
cannot be abused, while transgender men, who
are generally in women’s facilities, are
a danger to women inmates.
We know that trans people face more extreme
kinds of abuse and harassment in detention.
Some of these include demeaning language,
such as the insistence on calling people the
wrong pronoun or name, homophobic and transphobic
slurs, both by other prisoners and by staff.
They experience sexual harassment, including
sexually explicit language, presuming that
all trans people are sexually permissive,
and comments and invasive questions about
body parts.
They experience abusive or inappropriate searches
by staff.
We hear about protective pairing, which is
an arrangement where one prisoner exchanges
protection for sexual and other favors.
It’s also called “hooking up” or “choosing
a man or a woman,” and it mimics the dynamics
of domestic violence in the community in terms
of the power dynamics and the one-sidedness
of the rules.
And finally, trans people experience sexual
assault and prostitution at much higher rates
and often in more violent and extreme ways.
So I’d like to share another quote from
a transgender women named Desi, who wrote
to JDI about her own experience with what
we call “protective pairing.”
She said, “The options for me are to ‘choose
up’ with a ‘husband’ that’s both strong
enough and respected enough to protect me
and with enough income to take care of me
as his ‘prison wife.’
Or I can be conscripted into a gang as a ‘prison
gang bitch’ and forced to have multiple
sex partners who may or may not take care
of me.
So I try to choose the lesser of two evils.”
I think that quote is especially poignant
when talking about the dynamics of abuse in
detention for trans-women, in particular.
So I now have the honor and privilege of introducing
Kerri Cecil.
Kerri is a transgender filmmaker and an outspoken
activist for the rights of all transgender
people.
She recently produced a documentary called
“Transformed: Surviving the Darkside of
Hollywood” about the many struggles that
transgender women face in order to survive.
Kerri works for the Friends Community Center
in Los Angeles as an HIV counselor and tester.
And we have invited Kerri here today to talk
about her experience in men’s prisons in
California and the abuse she experienced and
observed while incarcerated.
Thank you so much for being here today, Kerri.
Thank you, Carolina.
And I want to thank each and every single
one of you here for caring enough to be a
part of this webinar today.
So I want to tell you a little bit about my
story.
I basically grew up on the streets of Hollywood.
My family was not supportive, just like so
many other trans people and their families.
From an early age, I felt like “I matter
less in the world because I am a transgender
woman.”
I was 18 years old when I first went to prison
for second-degree robbery.
I had been prostituting at the time and one
day, I was drunk in the backseat of a car
when my boyfriend at the time decided to rob
one of my tricks.
I was arrested and sentenced to prison.
It felt like part of my soul was chipped off.
I hadn’t committed the crime I was arrested
for and once again, I was being told that
I didn’t matter.
Even my public defender was laughing at me
in the courtroom because I was trans.
I had already been on hormones for several
years and was living my life as a woman, so
you can imagine how frightened I was when
they sent me to a men’s prison.
When I got there, I was blown away by the
amount of violence and control that the male
prisoners had over the transgender women.
Gay and bisexual men were definitely targeted
as well.
But it was so much harder to hide who I was
because I have breasts and I look like a woman.
When I got inside the prison, I didn’t know
that I had been bought and almost immediately,
by some of the men who were in the white gang,
I was literally put in a cell with the highest
bidder.
That was what they called “breaking her
in.”
They wanted to break me so that I would make
money for them.
They tried to sell me as their property.
I was brutally beaten for two weeks and raped
until they had just gotten sick of me, and
they just kind of threw me out.
During those two weeks, I wanted to give up
on life, but I didn’t.
There was something inside of me that chose
to continue living.
And once I was out of that situation, I saw
that the other trans-women were treated much
the same way.
Basically, we were property for whoever was
the highest bidder.
The craziest thing is that the officers knew
what was going on in there and sometimes encouraged
it.
At that time, the officers abused and humiliated
us as well.
Countless times I was humiliated and stripped
by officers in front of other inmates, and
countless times they would pat search us in
an unprofessional and violating way, knowing,
of course, that we have breasts, but acting
as if they didn’t know.
Trans people, we are targeted by officers
as if we don’t belong there, but at the
same time, they would tell us “Well, you’re
here in a men’s prison and we’re going
to treat you like every other male prisoner.”
The officers didn’t want us there because
obviously they didn’t want to deal with
our needs as trans-women, specifically about
getting us bras.
Some of us started writing letters and 602ing,
which is the appeals process, about the fact
that they would have us out there being pat
searched, ignoring that we have breasts, fondling
them, violating us.
Often, they would make us go out on the yard
in our heavy, blue uniforms in 100-degree
weather, just to cover up our breasts, instead
of issuing us bras so that we could wear t-shirts
or tank tops like all the other inmates.
These are the kinds of things that are only
recently just started changing.
When I got out in 1995 from my first prison
term, I started using drugs and ended up going
in and out of prison for drug possession,
and every time I would go to court, I was
never given any real defense.
No one was there to ask the courts to give
me a break.
I never had that kind of representation.
So automatically, I would get sent right back
into prison.
Trans people are really unrepresented when
it comes to legal defense.
During my last term in prison, gang members
were attacking trans-women and trying to make
us pay taxes and rent to be on those yards
and forcing us to prostitute for them once
again.
That’s when I started reaching out for help.
I contacted an organization called the TGI
Justice Project, which stands for Transgender
Gender-Variant Intersex Justice Project, to
let them know what was going on inside Avenal
Prison.
And then I also reached out to JDI and I explained
that I was a survivor and told them about
what had happened to me.
I also told them about another officer who
was fondling me on the yard and saying that
because I was a male inmate that I didn’t
have a right to protection of my breasts.
What I experienced by that officer became
so synonymous with sexual harassment that
inmates would say, “What’s up?
Can I get a Brown?” because his name was
Officer Brown, meaning could they touch my
breasts.
I had no defense against that, so I would
write appeals and JDI would tell me about
some options that I had.
Of course it got denied all the way up to
the top level in Sacramento.
I was told that I am a male inmate and the
officer has a right to search me at any time
and on any part of my body.
I still didn’t have any family or anyone
on the outside, so when I started really receiving
letters from JDI and other organizations,
it began to affect how some of the officers
would treat me.
I could see the difference when they would
bring me legal mail from JDI.
They would look at me from the corner of their
eyes like, “Oh, we can’t mistreat this
person anymore.”
Just receiving mail gave the officers the
impression that someone on the outside cared
about me.
Right after that had happened, I was transferred
to another prison and they knew there that
people on the outside were supporting of me.
During a pat search one day, one officer said
really loud so that everybody could hear,
including the other officer, “I’m going
to touch you now and I just want you to know
that I’m using the back of my hand to go
around your breasts.”
While there were some small improvements on
how certain officers were treating me, they
were still putting some of us trans-women
in cells with rapists who could really physically
hurt them, and the women were told that if
they wanted to get out of the cell, they would
have to cut themselves.
So we had a few trans-women who actually did
cut themselves, just to get out of those cells
because they were constantly in danger.
Fortunately, the rapist that they put me in
the cell with happened to be half my size,
so I wasn’t physically in danger.
I was just perversely in danger because I
would wake up with him doing crazy stuff while
I was asleep.
But as far as physically, he could not overpower
me.
Some of the other trans-women had it much
worse than I did in that prison.
Trans-women go through so much in prison and
we really need emotional support, just to
know that people out here care about us.
That means more than you know.
We need to know that we’re not forgotten.
Excuse me one second.
That we may have made some mistakes, but we
don’t deserve to be sexually harassed and
abused, to be treated as if we are less than
human.
People degrade trans people on the streets,
so it’s not surprising that we’re treated
even worse in prison by a bunch of people
who are in there for hateful crimes or officers
who are calloused towards inmates in general.
I remember my first time going into the prison
at Old Folsom, 1991.
They had a hill on the outside of the prison
with all of these sticks sticking out of the
ground.
Those sticks had numbers on them.
I asked somebody about it and they said, “That’s
where you go if you’re killed inside of
here and nobody claims your body.”
That stuck with me the entire time.
I kept telling myself, “Whatever you do,
Kerri, try to survive because nobody will
be able to claim your body,” and that’s
why we need to give transgender women hope
in there.
There are so many dangers that many don’t
survive inside of prison.
I urge you to just take a minute and listen
to some of the women’s stories and show
them that you care and that they have somebody
out here who is just not going to let them
be raped and murdered in prison.
It means so much just having somebody come
and see you or write to you and acknowledge
you, especially because you’re in such a
dark place for so long.
Just having somebody who would take the time
and see us inside of there speaks volumes.
That would be totally amazing.
It’s so important to have the ability to
have a connection with a human being after
something as traumatic as sexual abuse or
sexual assault.
That would be a huge step.
To this day, whenever trans-women are sexually
abused, we are locked inside of a cage in
administrative segregation.
It’s literally a cage inside of a cage,
no bigger than a dog kennel.
And when we do get to talk to a counselor,
we are made to feel as if we brought this
on ourselves.
We are forced into handcuffs inside of this
tiny cage, which makes us feel as if we did
do something wrong, even though we were the
victims.
We are still treated as dirt.
We need support from someone who doesn’t
see us that way.
It’s courageous to even come forward and
report that we are raped.
There are so many dangers inside prison for
snitching.
So for us to be treated this way after we
are raped, it really takes a lot for us to
deal with.
Think about all of the trans people who don’t
feel safe to even report it because of the
way we are treated when we do report it.
I wish that all trans survivors could meet
with a counselor in a room and actually just
have a conversation instead of being put inside
of a cage.
Excuse me one second.
Instead of being put inside of a cage that
only further dehumanizes us.
I’m so sorry.
I’m a little sick.
I think that would be a huge step forward.
People who are victims of hate and rape inside
prison are re-victimized by the system all
of the time.
I just want to reinforce that whatever support
you can offer will help, no matter how simple.
Just knowing that someone believes and cares
can feel like everything in there.
Thank you once again for participating in
this webinar.
Thank you so much, Kerri, for your courage
to speak about your own experiences.
I know that it can be challenging and just
your strength and your courage and the strong
voice that you have, especially when talking
about all the other trans people who are behind
bars, it’s just really powerful and amazing,
so thank you for joining us.
And Kerri is going to be around for the Q&A
session later on today.
So before we move on, let’s make this a
little more interactive.
I’m going to give you just a few seconds
or so to answer the following poll, and if
you’d just bear with me for a minute.
So let’s see.
What are some challenges that trans survivors
often face in detention?
And just a few more seconds.
Great.
And, of course, you can select the answer
on your screen.
Great.
So here are your answers, and the majority
of you said “all of the above,” “limited
access to medical services,” “little control
over one’s body and self-expression,”
and then “being isolated after reporting
abuse.”
And all of these are definitely, we’re going
to go over in great detail in the next section
of our webinar, so thank you so much for participating.
So now I’d like to introduce Linda McFarlane,
one of our deputy executive directors here
at JDI, and then Michael Munson again, from
FORGE, who will be talking through some of
the challenges of providing services to transgender
survivors in detention.
Linda and Michael, over to you.
Thanks so much, Carolina.
So Michael and I are just going to talk through
some of the challenges and opportunities as
well with helping transgender survivors who
are incarcerated, and hopefully through this
next conversation, we’ll answer some of
the questions that some of you had posed at
the beginning of the webinar.
And I wanted to say, before we enter this
conversation, I just really appreciate Kerri’s
story and thank you for sharing it with us.
I know that I’m really touched by it and
I have a little bit of a cough, but now I
have more of a cough because I was really
touched and crying, so thank you for being
willing to share.
So like Linda said, we wanted just to kind
of have a conversation around some of these
challenges and what people can do.
So why don’t we start with when people are
not in detention, they have a lot of choice
or control around their appearance, as well
as if they pursue things like medical options
related to their gender, so I’m wondering,
Linda, if you can talk a little bit about
what range of options trans people have with
their gender presentation while they’re
in detention.
So I know this can vary a lot from facility
to facility, but I’m wondering about things
like clothing options that people have, if
they’re allowed to keep their hair in a
specific way, if they have access to razors
or makeup, if they can grow a beard, or if
they have access to things like prosthetics,
so binders for trans-men; I heard in Kerri’s
story things like wigs, which are not necessarily
prosthetics, but things that people may need
every day.
Yeah.
I mean as you said, it really varies a great
deal from facility to facility.
I think one striking thing in many detention
settings is the lack of ability to control
external aspects of gender expression.
It really is changing in some places and some
facilities have worked hard to make the environment
healthier for transgender individuals, but
again, with just a little more flexibility
and recognition that this is a real need,
but still I think many transgender people
don’t have access to gender appropriate
grooming supplies or undergarments, and it’s
really just one more traumatizing aspect of
incarceration.
And on the other hand, I think many transgender
people are extremely creative about finding
ways to create makeup, style hair, deal with
the beard, or alter clothing to express their
gender, despite the lack of any kind of formal
supplies.
And to be honest, I’ve only really heard
of one or two facilities even acknowledge
that access to prosthetics is an issue to
be considered, and then that would usually
be something that would be referred to the
medical department.
Hmm.
Yeah.
And you mentioned the medical department,
and I’m wondering what kind of options trans
people have in detention around access to
things like hormones or other medical services
related to their gender.
Well, this really varies as well.
I think that prisons and larger jails tend
to have more services than smaller jails,
and if they have a full medical department
they may be able to at least provide hormones
and some additional care, but it does seem
to usually…
Well, I mean it’s generally accepted now
that continuing hormones is best practice.
But for people who haven’t had a formal
prescription or community doctor who confirmed
their needs and provide records, there can
be delay or even refusal to prescribe hormones,
so for people who may have been obtaining
hormones on the street, they won’t have
that documentation.
I think that most facilities who prescribe
hormones do tend to stop there, and most departments
tend to stop there.
But transgender prisoners across the country
are really pushing this and their need for
more comprehensive medical services and are
getting some support and traction from organizations
like Transgender Law Center, Kerri mentioned
TGI Justice Project, the National Center For
Lesbian Rights, and the National Center For
Transgender Equality are some of the ones
that spring to mind.
There are actually several lawsuits emerging
around trans specific medical care.
Hmm.
Yeah.
One of the things that we know is that trans
people who are restricted from expressing
their gender can and do experience higher
rates of suicidal thoughts and actions, as
well as may have other behavioral challenges,
either really withdrawing or isolating or
acting out in more confrontational ways.
For survivors of sexual assault, it can be
really important to have some sense of control
over their body, both in terms of clothing
and appearance and access to hormones, which
as you mentioned, are sometimes not allowed.
Can you talk a little bit more about if or
how the risks change when a trans person in
detention expresses their gender more freely,
for example, if a trans-woman grows out her
nails or is allowed to wear makeup or has
things like a more feminine walk or longer
hair?
Do these kinds of things increase the likelihood
of violence or sexual assault, and what’s
the balance between the expression of authentic
gender and authentic self and the potential
for increased violence?
Yeah, and I think it really depends a lot
on how the facility approaches it, right?
Clearly, some facilities believe that denying
gender will make a transgender person safer,
sort of saying, “Just don’t sort of be
that way and you’ll be safer.
Don’t draw…”
If transgender people aren’t able to fully
express their gender, that they’ll draw
less attention and be in less danger.
And on the surface, that can seem to make
sense.
And certainly, some transgender people inside
make that very hard choice to try to draw
less attention.
But there is actually no evidence that in
facilities where people feel safer and more
empowered to express their gender that they
are less safe.
There is no evidence that they draw attention
to themselves, so to speak.
It’s really all about the environment of
respect that’s created, and living in an
environment where their gender is denied,
as you said, is very harmful and traumatizing,
in and of itself.
So that creates danger, right?
And then the danger to transgender people
comes from a culture that devalues them and
denying their gender only further marginalizes
them and again, creates more danger.
So facilities where transgender people and
frankly, all people are treated with respect
and dignity are safer overall.
Yeah, and what you bring up is kind of the
sense of being authentic and getting to be
who we are.
I’m wondering what people are using in terms
of names that align with their identity and
if they’re using their names assigned at
birth or what’s the possibility around that?
Because I know it’s really painful for trans
people to constantly hear a name that doesn’t
resonate with them, a name that they don’t
prefer to be called.
So I know that you were telling me a story
the other day about this.
I’m wondering if you could share that a
little bit.
Sure.
I mean I do think generally, that again relates
facility to facility.
Many facilities insist on using sort of a
legal name that the person was arrested under,
regardless of how they identify, and even
if they might have some documentation.
And on the flipside, on the facility that
has really made some strides in this, I had
recently done some work in a jail in Washington
state and the staff had gone through training
about effective communication with LGBTI prisoners,
which is required by the PREA standards, the
Prison Rape Elimination Act standards.
And I was able to spend some time talking
privately with a young transgender woman there.
She had been incarcerated previously, so she
was able to compare this experience now to
other incarcerations.
And she shared that the staff at this jail
referred to her as “she” or by using gender
neutral language, and she noticed that they
tended to use the more gender neutral language
such as last name only in front of other inmates
and “she” and her chosen name when it
was one on one.
She also said that they asked her where she
would feel most comfortable being housed and
what gender staff she preferred to do pat
searches of her.
And she said that really these things made
her feel much safer and much calmer.
The staff also reported that she was much
calmer and had fewer disciplinary issues than
her past records would have suggested to them
that she would, and they linked this, they
fully believe that it was because they had
learned to communicate effectively and respectfully
with her.
One challenge she was having was having strong
reminders of past sexual abuse from when she
had been in a youth facility.
And so she came into the jail feeling alienated
already, a sense of disassociation from herself
and from her body, and we’ll talk about
that feeling a little bit more later, even
though she felt safe in this particular jail.
And because she’d told staff that she was
feeling suicidal, she wasn’t allowed to
have a razor in the jail cell and had grown
a beard, and she described that along with
feeling triggered by being incarcerated because
she’d been abused in the past, the sense
of kind of her own identity that she had developed
as a young adult had been further harmed by
feeling and seeing a beard on her face.
And I was able to, after talking with her,
communicate this to the staff in the jail,
and they understood and agreed to let her
shave, of course supervised by a staff member
so she wouldn’t be able to use the razor
potentially to harm herself, and it just really
brought home to me that there are corrections
officials out there who are working hard to
make facilities safer and an advocate can
really be a part of helping survivors and
helping transgender prisoners by finding those
allies inside and by supporting their efforts.
Sort of to that, I think, kind of on that
note, rape crisis services have been outside
the standard delivery system by design.
They’re not psychiatric services.
Rape crisis advocates aren’t part of the
investigative team.
It’s been more of a peer support model,
people whose only goal is the well being of
the survivor, and I think this can be very
comforting for transgender survivors who may
have experienced the standard medical mental
health professional, so legal, as gatekeepers
to services and things they need or certainly
in the case of medical and mental health,
to have pathologized them.
And so I think for a lot of advocates, this
really can feel like uncharted territory to
work with transgender survivors, and a lot
of transgender survivors, as Michael has mentioned,
don’t feel like advocates are necessarily
there for them.
So Michael, could you share a little bit about
how advocates can make themselves more accessible,
for instance, by asking about a survivor’s
name and pronouns?
Definitely.
It can be incredibly validating and empowering
for trans people to have somebody ask about
their name and pronoun that they use.
So asking can be really simple and it can
be a normalizing process, especially if you
do it with all the survivors you work with,
and it sometimes is very relevant for non-trans
folks, as well as trans folks.
So for an example of how you can ask, you
can say, “I ask everyone what name they
would like to call me, like some people prefer
to be called Bill versus William and some
people have names that are totally different
from their legal name.
So what name would you like me to use?”
So it’s a really simple way that it tells
people why you’re asking and it normalizes
the process.
It doesn’t imply that you know that they’re
trans, if they aren’t out to you yet.
And so it’s very simple and easy.
So if you hear a name, they respond and say,
“Call me…” whatever it is, but if you
hear a name that’s substantially different
from the name that you have on their paperwork
and it sounds like it might be of a different
gender, you can ask a follow-up question like
“Well, what pronoun would you prefer me
to use?
What pronoun would you like me to use?
Do you like ‘he’ or ‘she’ or another
pronoun?”
So keep in mind that not everybody is going
to tell you at the first meeting all of the
details of their life and disclose their transness
or what name they’d like to be called because
it can feel really risky and exposing.
If you know or have been told that this client
is transgender, you may want to ask again
the next time that you meet them, making sure
that they know that the door is always open
to talk to you about what they prefer and
any other trans specific concerns that they
might have.
You may want to insist, at least in private
sessions, that you really want to use their
chosen name.
Transgender prisoners are often so used to
being misgendered and called the wrong name
that sometimes they might not even believe
that you will respect them by using their
name and pronoun.
It’s also really critical to ask where they
feel comfortable and safe for you to use their
name or pronoun that they tell you since it
may just be something that they want between
the two of you and not used around other staff
or inmates.
Yeah.
Thank you, Michael, because I really don’t
think we can overstate the importance of making
it clear that you see someone authentically
as who they are and certainly your language
is one of the primary ways you can do it because
that experience for some can be healing in
ways that you might not predict.
I was doing some counseling with a transgender
woman who is a survivor of sexual abuse who
had been in prison.
So she was quite young and she told me that
myself and another rape crisis advocate were
the first people who she believed had ever
seen her truly as a woman, and that was a
gift, she said, that would help her to protect
herself and to advocate for herself.
And honestly, it wasn’t extraordinary what
we did.
We simply listened, we used her chosen name
and pronouns, and respected her own description
of her identity as true.
And really, these are things that all well
trained rape crisis counselors would do.
I also worked with a transgender man who was
housed in a women’s unit, and he was so
used to his masculine identity being seen
as negative and aggressive or as that he was
putting on an act that when he wasn’t treated
that way in our group we were doing, he was
surprised to the point of disbelief at first.
But it really didn’t take that long for
him to trust that our respect for who he was
was genuine.
That’s really interesting, and I know trust
is a really big issue for a lot of folks,
and many trans survivors in detention may
feel less trusting of talking to staff or
medical or mental health providers who work
within the detention center, especially if
they’re not out as trans to those staff.
So I’m wondering if you could talk a little
bit about what some of the options survivors
have who are in detention, so does talking
to an outside advocate, would that allow for
more disclosure, like you kind of implied
above, or what options do people have?
Yeah.
Absolutely.
I think especially if an outside advocate
has a good rapport with staff, for example,
they can help to educate staff and advocates
and advocate for their clients that way.
And often, honestly, staff will be relieved
to have some tools.
The Prison Rape Elimination Act standards
do require that staff get education in effective
communication with lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, and intersex prisoners, and advocates
can certainly help with that.
The PREA standards also require that all facilities
provide access to outside support services
related to sexual abuse and harassment and
that they do that through addresses or hotline
numbers.
They also require that inmates who disclose
that they have been abused in the past be
referred for a mental health evaluation.
And what I’ve seen is that when transgender
survivors know that the help is there and
that it’s accessible, they do reach out.
And again, at JDI we hear from transgender
survivors daily.
It’s important also to remember though that
survivors have the choice about what they’d
like to do post-assault and having that control
is critically important and it’s also important
that they not be judged for the decision whether
or not to report or reach out for help.
And I do want to say that I think that if
it’s an outsider who is offering that help,
as you alluded to earlier, Michael, there
is a lot less fear of retaliation and possible
repercussions, certainly at first, and I think
Kerri mentioned, as well, earlier that when
survivors know that someone from the outside
is paying attention, they often feel much
safer and the facility’s staff often react
to that as well.
Sort of moving back to after the abuse, if
someone reports, if they would like to pursue
evidence collection, be a part of an investigation,
including a forensic exam and also to receive
medical treatment for injuries or for prophylactic
care for sexually transmitted infections,
HIV, potential pregnancy, it’s important
to give the survivor, as an advocate, clear,
simple information about what the forensic
exam may entail.
Also ask the survivor what they need to know,
what questions they have, or what concerns
they have, and that if you don’t know the
answer to their questions or concerns, check
with others; get back to them.
Ask the survivor what they would like and
what they need from you as an advocate, just
as you would with anyone else, to help make
this process easier for them, but keep in
mind that for transgender survivors there
may be sort of different concerns, perhaps
higher levels of anxiety or fear around this
kind of a medical exam, and Michael is going
to talk about that more in detail in a minute.
But remember that corrections facilities are
required to provide care that’s equivalent
to the standard of care in the community and
many of them are struggling to find ways to
do this, so this is another way you can help.
But this usually does mean taking survivors
to outside hospitals where you’re probably
already providing these services in the community
anyway.
Yeah.
What you said is just so critical.
And of course not everybody does want to pursue
forensic evidence collection, but for those
that do, I think it is so important for advocates
to ask survivors what they want, since it’s
just really important to ask.
For trans survivors, they may want the advocate
to talk with the healthcare provider about
the name and pronoun that they use or to tell
that healthcare provider that they’re trans,
and some people may not want that to transpire,
and so that’s how the advocate can help
in that way.
Sometimes trans survivors want an advocate’s
help in telling a forensic exam nurse or physician
that they would prefer to not use specific
language to talk about their body, but they
might feel more comfortable, for example,
showing somebody on a diagram or on an anatomical
doll what might have happened or what part
of their body is in need of attention.
If someone is using pronouns and names other
than what a client might want, there is maybe
some disconnect between the providers using
legal documentation names, the advocate can
definitely help step in and make the correction
of name and pronoun, if the survivor would
like that.
And even if that medical provider is not willing
to use the survivor’s language, it can be
very validating and empowering and supporting
to the survivor if you, as an advocate, continue
to consistently use the survivor’s language.
The survivor is going to hear that and they’re
going to know that you’re trying to create
a safer space in a space that may not be as
safe as we’d all like it to be.
For some trans survivors, they may not want
the medical provider to know that they are
trans, and they might prefer to go into the
exam presenting as the sex that they were
assigned at birth and just not disclose at
all, and obviously, any of those choices is
very valid and may help them feel safer and
more able to go through with things.
Some trans survivors have had a lot of shame
around their body, in addition to feeling
shame around being a survivor, and they may
not wish to have you in the exam room at all,
and as with all survivors, it’s really important
to follow their lead and respect the choices
that they make since so much has already happened
that’s taken away control from them.
Yeah.
I mean like you’re saying, there can be
a lot of shame around bodies, you mentioned,
certainly a lot of fears of loss of control,
and for sexual assault survivors this is often
magnified.
How does this play into what choices trans
survivors may make around exams and evidence
collection?
Yeah, right.
Shame is often true for all survivors or many
survivors, but trans survivors can really
feel disconnected from some parts of their
body, specifically things like their chest
or their genitals, and they may not want anyone
to touch or see those parts of their body.
Survivors, obviously, have the right to determine
what level of evidence collection or medical
care they receive.
So just to give an example, a trans-woman
who may have a penis and may not want to have
her genitals swabbed as part of evidence collection,
but she might be okay with having her anus
examined or swabbed.
So that’s one example where she’s kind
of given the choice for or asserting her choice
in what’s okay with her body.
So this might be a really good time to mention
a couple of other things that we haven’t
talked about yet.
And one of the things is that we don’t talk
about trans-men, and I know we’ve briefly
mentioned trans-guys a little bit as we’ve
talked, but if a trans-man or anybody who
has ovaries or uterus is assaulted, there
is a risk of pregnancy if there was vaginal
penetration with a penis that ejaculated.
So one of the things that advocates can do,
it’s really important maybe for advocates
to step in in medical situations to remind
medical providers that maybe they should screen
for pregnancy or even better yet, to offer
emergency contraception since pregnancy is
a possibility.
And the other thing that I wanted to mention
here around forensic exams is one of the webinars
that we did about a year ago, and we had a
guest speaker, Kim Day from International
Association of Forensic Nurses, and she is
just a dynamic speaker, and she in that webinar
goes into great length about how forensic
nurses can work really effectively with trans
survivors.
So I really encourage people to look at that.
And we also added a document that kind of
highlights in the SART safe protocols those
trans examples and how those play out a little
bit better.
Yeah, great.
And you can see the resources here.
The links, if people are interested, are on
the screen right now, and certainly you’ll
have gotten those in your slides early on.
So thank you for that, Michael.
And moving on to we all know that sexual abuse,
sexual assault certainly affects people’s
thoughts about sexuality and when we’re
talking about sexual abuse in prison, we need
to think about that.
Honestly, transgender people are subject to
both curiosity and assumptions about their
sexuality, and that happens in the community,
and I think it’s magnified in prisons and
jails.
Transgender people express and experience
their sexuality in a range of ways, just like
everybody else.
And I think prison and jail staff, like many
people in the community, aren’t always sure
of how to distinguish between gender identity
and sexual orientation.
And then you add onto this that in prisons
and jails, in general, it’s difficult for
people to talk about sex and sexuality.
Sexual behavior is not allowed, and yet, many
people assume that all transgender people
are open to having sex with anyone, as Kerri
mentioned.
Transgender women’s sexuality in prison
is often seen as simply a commodity, and these
kinds of assumptions and experiences create
yet another barrier for transgender people
to feel safe in coming forward for help.
Yeah, it’s really interesting that you remind
us all that sexual behavior is not allowed,
but of course we know that sexual behavior
is happening in detention, and in my experience,
I’ve heard a lot of trans-women, more trans-women
than trans-men, talk about how they do want
to have that added perceived protection while
they’re in detention and may overtly decide
that they want to exchange sexual favors,
sexual behavior with one or more people in
order to possibly minimize the risk of violence
or sexual assault by other inmates.
For some trans-women too, I know that deciding
to engage in sexual behavior is one way that
they can validate their gender identity as
female, but that’s another topic that we
can talk about some other time.
I’m wondering if you can talk about the
choices that some trans-women make to engage
in sex in exchange for protection and what
happens if this arrangement ends up not working
out so well or ends up in assault.
Yeah, and I think as you point out there,
for many trans-women in prisons and jails,
it feels like the only option to have that
perceived layer of protection if they’re
going to have some sort of safety.
Often the person will be another inmate and
sometimes a staff member, and we do hear that
the experience can run the gamut from relationship
that is perceived or it certainly at first
seems beneficial to both parties to something
very overtly abusive where the trans-woman
feels trapped in the relationship and is unable
to escape.
And these relationships tend to mirror domestic
violence in the community, where one person
has all of the power and control.
And when the transgender woman wants out,
that’s when she can be and often is subjected
to the most violence, the most danger.
And we also hear that staff and officials
often don’t respond well to transgender
women who are trying to get out of these relationships,
don’t take their attempts to get help seriously
because they believe that they were consensual
to begin with and then there is the same sort
of victim blaming that the advocates on this
call are familiar with happening in the community.
And we do also hear about transgender men
that when they’re trying to get out of these
kinds of relationships as well, they are not
believed, often because it’s assumed that
they are the aggressor, especially if the
abuser had a more feminine presentation.
Well, and I’m glad that you…
We have talked about trans-men and I think
it’s really important for us to talk about
both trans-men and trans-women.
I was wondering if we could make a couple
points about, so we don’t miss them, and
I’m wondering if you could share a little
bit about how trans people are assigned to
gendered facilities.
I know we’ve made a couple of references
before today about it, but I know PREA has
some suggestions.
But is it still common that “genital sorting,”
in big air quotes there, is still used as
the primary method for placement?
Yeah, that’s true, and I do think this type
of thinking is shifting, though we’re not
at a place where gender identity determines
placement.
The PREA standards have given advocates some
important tools to use.
The PREA standards do require that an individual
determination about the best housing be made
for each trans person and that trans people
be asked about their own perceptions, their
own preferences for housing and their perceptions
of their own vulnerability, and that that
has to be taken seriously.
Also, transgender people’s housing needs
to be reevaluated at least every six months
to make sure that it’s appropriate.
And so we’re not there yet, but there really
have been some significant shifts.
Still, as Carolina mentioned, “genital sorting,”
again in air quotes, is the starting point
still in a lot of facilities.
Yeah, that’s really interesting, and we
worked with a family of a trans-man, and this
was a couple years ago, so maybe and hopefully
things have shifted since then.
But this trans-man was incarcerated in a women’s
prison and the choice of his placement was
determined solely by staff and he wasn’t
asked.
He wasn’t allowed to have a say in where
he felt the safest or which gendered facility
he preferred.
So it’s actually good to hear what you’re
saying about evaluation and asking folks.
What was interesting in this case though is
that he may have been safer in a women’s
facility, but for him, his gender identity
and being seen as male every day was far more
important, far, far, more important to him
than his safety.
So while he was in the women’s prison, he
ended up getting really depressed and he also
started acting out in physical ways, which
resulted in him being placed in solitary.
And when he initially entered the facility,
he was not allowed to continue on hormones,
which he had been on for many years, so it
makes me wonder if this shift in hormones
and in being placed with women when he didn’t
feel comfortable there could have contributed
to his depression, either biologically or
psychologically.
Mm-hmm.
So I think we’re going to shift and do some
very simple four points around some tips for
advocates, and we want to just end with these
points.
So the first one is simple actions can have
a big impact, and we’ve heard that a couple
times today.
So like Linda mentioned before the simple
action of using someone’s correct name and
pronoun or finding a way for a trans-woman
to get access to a razor to shave her face,
all of those simple actions can have a profound
impact on trans survivors’ lives.
A second thing is looking at a whole person.
So it’s vital to all survivors to be seen
as whole people.
One of the things that happens frequently
with trans people is that others focus extensively
on their transness.
Now keep in mind that the survivor probably
has assault related needs that are their primary
needs.
So don’t make being transgender the issue
if it isn’t the issue for the survivor.
The third thing is around listening.
So it definitely brings me back to that reminder
of listening to our clients.
So listen carefully and ask only the questions
that are relevant and necessary.
Trans people are routinely asked invasive
and inappropriate questions.
So if we think before we speak, about if our
questions are about curiosity or if we really
need to know the information to provide good
service.
And the fourth thing is probably, to me, the
most important thing, and that’s compassion,
and it’s compassion with persistence and
kindness.
Trans people, both in and out of detention,
often experience daily harassment, discrimination,
violence, and other types of injustices.
It can feel really overwhelming to live in
a world that is so harsh.
So for many it’s a rare thing to be treated
with kindness and with respect and with compassion.
And you can make a huge difference, both in
their day to day life, as well as providing
them with an opportunity to see that people
actually can and do care about them when you
simply show some human compassion.
Thank you so much, Michael and Linda.
I think that was just a lot of really rich
and useful content for our listeners.
And so these are just a few resources that
might be helpful for you as you work with
incarcerated trans survivors, including the
link to Michael’s organization, FORGE, a
lot of really, really great, useful content
there.
Black & Pink is another organization that
provides resources for advocates who work
with LGBT inmates, and the Center For Constitutional
Rights is yet another great resources, and
I know that we’ve kind of sprinkled other
resources throughout today’s webinar, which
I hope will be useful to you.
And then we can’t encourage you enough to
check out FORGE’s online toolkit, which
can be found at this link, really great stuff
there, I think, as Michael went over earlier.
And I also want to encourage you to view JDI’s
publication, “Hope Behind Bars: An Advocate’s
Guide To Helping Survivors Of Sexual Abuse
Behind Bars.”
A lot of the stuff that we went over today
is in there, and it’s free and can be found
on the advocate resources section of JDI’s
website and includes general tips on working
with incarcerated survivors, as well as more
details about working with trans survivors.
If you have any questions or need technical
support, you can always contact us at Advocate@JustDetention.org
and we’ll get back to you within about two
business days.
We also encourage you to visit the advocate
resources page on our website for a wide range
of archived webinars, fact sheets, sample
MOUs, and other helpful resources.
And that link is JustDetention.org/Advocate-Resources.
So now I’d like to turn things over to my
colleague, Kamilah, who will go over some
of your questions.
Kamilah?
Hi.
Thank you, Carolina.
We have a few questions and we’ve got about
ten minutes.
If you have more, you can submit them now.
The first one is from Jennifer and she had
some questions about the PREA standards, specifically
ones that apply to transgender inmates.
And this was in response to the part from
Kerri’s story about the degrading searches
by male staff.
And she says, “Can trans-women be searched
by male guards just because they’re in male
prisons?
Is there a PREA regulation that says that
that can’t happen?”
I’ll refer that one to Linda.
Sure.
The PREA standards say that all staff members
should be trained in how to search respectfully
and professionally a transgender inmate.
And the PREA standards also say that a transgender’s
own preference about the gender of the person
who should search them should be taken into
account when that decision is made.
So the standards do not come out specifically
saying that transgender people can or cannot
be searched by any gender of staff.
The determination about what is the most professional
and respectful way to search a transgender
person is supposed to be individual.
And you can see some guidelines around searching
people of the opposite gender from the staff
member and searching transgender individuals
in the PREA standards 115.15.
Thank you, Linda.
I hope that answered the question.
There is another one from Amy and she asks,
“In general, how do you deal with or address
gender stereotypes or biases that you may
encounter when you’re working with corrections
staff or law enforcement?”
I will refer that one to Linda as well.
Actually, I was going to ask Michael if he
wanted to take that.
I was hoping that you would, so…
Oh, okay.
Yeah, I think you’re going to have a better
answer, I think.
Okay.
Sure.
So I mean I think in terms of addressing gender
biases, one of the things that when working
with law enforcement or corrections that we’ve
tried to do, and honestly, FORGE has a lot
of great materials around this, is really
start with some basics around understanding
language, how to use language, how to be respectful,
how to be professional.
I honestly think that one of the main things
to really latch onto is a sense of professionalism
and this is one of the places where advocating
with a facility, I think, it has to come from
leadership.
And that could be formal leaders at the top
or it could be informal leaders in terms of
trainers or staff members who have some influence
to say, “These are the basic expectations
of this job.
You don’t have to change your views if you
find this problematic, but what you do have
to do is behave this way.”
Of course it’s much more genuine and it
works much better if they can fully treat
and see transgender prisoners as fully human
and deserving this treatment, which is of
course where we want to go, but in terms of
safety for right now, we often, if we’re
concerned, start with “You have to do your
job and here is what that means here” and
go back to that basic professionalism.
And again, I think presenting it as a way,
as “These are tools that will help you do
your job better with less stress, with less
problems in your facility, and safer for everybody,
inmates and staff alike” is really often
where we find people grab onto that.
I hope that answers it.
But there is lots of materials that are out
there for help.
Thank you.
We have another follow-up question about searches,
and this one is from Cathy, and she asks,
“Do heterosexual or cisgender inmates get
to choose the gender of an officer to pat
them down?”
Well, it depends on what sort of facility
they’re in and what the guidelines are at.
And again, the PREA standards are being applied
across the country sort of as we speak.
They are not in place everywhere.
The PREA standards have a phase-out of allowing
male staff to pat search female inmates.
They do not have a blanket ban on female staff
pat searching male inmates.
There is a lot of reasons that the Department
of Justice made that decision that I think
are kind of outside the scope of this webinar,
and I’d be happy to go into those online.
In youth facilities, there is a blanket ban
on cross gender pat searches, however, again,
phasing in.
Thank you.
Let’s see.
We have another question from Mariana from
Los Angeles LGBT Center, and this one I think
Linda or Michael might be able to answer.
So she is an advocate working with many immigrants
and she asks, “Is there any data regarding
transgender individuals in immigration detention
facilities?”
And she adds as a comment that “It is very
important to take into consideration culture
when you’re working with transgender immigrants.”
Linda, do you want to address that?
Sure.
I mean I’m honestly…
I’m not aware off the top of my head, Mariana,
but it’s certainly something we could check
into around data regarding transgender individuals
in immigration facilities.
We have certainly worked with and provided
support to a few individuals, and you’re
absolutely right; it is important to take
culture into account when working with transgender
immigrant, survivors who are immigrants and
are in detention.
The Department of Homeland Security is in
the process of implementing their own version
of the Prison Rape Elimination Act standards
and there are protections for transgender
immigration detainees in those as well.
And those standards, I believe, are available
at the Department of Homeland Security website.
But I’m not sure.
I mean in our experience, anecdotally, transgender
individuals in immigration are at very high
risk of sexual abuse, but the kind of research
that was done in prisons and jails was not
done in immigration facilities.
Thank you, Linda.
That looks like all of the questions that
we have for now.
I’m sorry.
I would love to just point out too, and thank
folks, and I want to make sure Kerri hears
and sees this, that in the comments, in the
question box, there are several thanks for
her courage and strength and for providing
her testimony and telling her story, giving
insight, and so I just wanted to make sure
everyone heard that we brought those up and
that Kerri heard those thanks.
Yes.
And thank you, everybody, for your comments.
And thank you for caring.
This is a new conversation that people are
actually caring what happens inside of there.
For so long, like I told, we’ve been so
revictimized by the system, and for people
to actually take their time to care about
trans-women inside of these dark places means
so much.
Thanks, Kerri.
Thank you.
So just a few more things to wrap up.
JDI has a resource guide for survivors of
sexual abuse behind bars, which lists legal
and psychological counseling resources by
state for survivors who are still incarcerated,
those who have been released, and loved ones
on the outside who are searching for ways
to help.
If your agency is interested in being listed
as a resource on JDI’s resource guide, please
fill out the form found on the link on your
screen.
We’ll also include the link in our follow-up
email, which you’ll receive later today.
And then I also want to encourage you to sign
up for the second part of our series on helping
transgender survivors behind bars, which will
be Wednesday, December 10, same time.
And that one will really cover…
We’ll have a couple advocates on who have
worked directly with transgender survivors
in different capacities, both legal aid and
actually inside of a major metropolitan jail,
and we’ll go over the PREA standards specifically
on transgender people’s rights and working
with transgender survivors in detention in
much more detail on that webinar.
So I encourage you to register and we’ll
send out this link later on.
And finally, I want to thank you so much for
joining us today.
Please take a moment to complete the evaluation
and provide us with your feedback.
It’s very, very important.
We take it very seriously, especially as we
shape future webinars.
So the link to the evaluation is on the slide
here, on your screen, and you’ll also receive
it in an email later on today.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
For additional information, visit our advocate
resources page, which the link is up here
on the slide, and of course direct questions
to Advocate@JustDetention.org, and if you
have any questions for Michael at FORGE, just
send those our way and we’ll make sure to
forward them to him.
And thank you again, and have a great day.
