The issue of trans women being placed in male prisons is a growing problem that has gained attention in the past couple of months due to the arrest of “Nikita Dragun” a popular trans makeup YouTuber. On November 7th, 2022 Dragun was arrested in Miami, Florida, and placed in the men’s unit although she had gone through every legal step and surgery to prove she is a woman. The fact that Nikita is legally female but was still placed in a male unit is dangerous to American rights. It’s disturbing how easy it is for people in high places, specifically law enforcement to ignore the law. But this isn’t just a one-time occurrence. Trans people are sent to the wrong jails and prisons every day and they are harmed in these prisons every day. Trans women especially are beaten, raped, and emotionally abused every single day in these prisons but nothing is being done. 

In the article “A trans agent of social change in incarceration: A psychobiographical study of Natasha Keating“ it states that “Research has shown that incarcerated trans women experience victimization, misgendering/misnaming, as well as physical and sexual assault while incarcerated, at the hands of other incarcerated persons and correctional staff” could this be avoided by placing trans women into women’s units or would women be just as cruel as men? Some argue that incarcerated biological women may feel uncomfortable in the same unit as transgender women, but in response to this, I ask, did you ever stop to consider the comfortability of trans women? Just because being cisgender is the “default” does not mean they should get the first pick of what is comfortable to them vs someone else. They also mention the different treatment trans women experience vs trans men when they bring up that trans women “are disproportionately affected by discrimination, violence, and other forms of victimization…placing trans women at higher risk of arrest and incarceration.” This is important to highlight because the aggression that trans women receive, especially from men, is substantially higher than what trans men receive. Trans women are at a much higher risk to be sexually harassed, sexually assaulted, beaten, and become victims of many other hate crimes than the risk rises once they become incarcerated. The article “Book Focuses on Transgender Women in Male Prison” calls on a trans woman referred to as Johnson when they tell part of her story “During her sentence as the only trans person in custody, she claims that she was sexually assaulted seven times; was referred to as “the man with tits” by prison officials, and was denied medication prescribed to her by her primary care physician at Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco”. This is just one example of how terribly they are treated and proof that the staff that is meant to protect them just makes things worse.

We can consider the option that this inequality in prisons stems from childhood. In the article “The Experience of Transgender Women Prisoners Serving a Sentence in a Male Prison: A Systematic Review and Meta-Synthesis” the introduction reveals that “Transgender individuals have reported experiencing social exclusion throughout their childhood and adult lives, resulting in inequalities in access to further education, housing, health care, and employment…For example, transgender women are nearly six times more likely to experience depression than the general US population”. If these children grow up in an environment that excludes and mistreats trans children there is a high likelihood that if they are to be incarcerated in the future with a trans individual they will treat them the way they did growing up. If this is the case it seems like trans inequality in prisons could be stopped by teaching children what inclusivity is and the importance of diversity.

Another solution has been to put these trans individuals in solitary confinement to “protect” them from discrimination and assault by other inmates. They bring up this topic in “The Experience of Transgender Women Prisoners Serving a Sentence in a Male Prison: A Systematic Review and Meta-Synthesis” when they mention “Transgender women prisoners were placed in solitary confinement from a minimum of 14 days, which occurred on many occasions to indefinitely, although the average length of placement in one study was 1.8 years… solitary confinement was described as a trigger for mental illness.” This can cause them to have mental breakdowns from the isolation and the stress it creates. A similar, less barbaric solution I’ve heard is to have a separate, third unit for gender non-conforming inmates. While this could be a great option, getting the state to fund multiple new large units in prisons would be near impossible especially if they are being used for trans inmates’ comfort. 

Again in the article “The Experience of Transgender Women Prisoners Serving a Sentence in a Male Prison: A Systematic Review and Meta-Synthesis” it explains that “Due to social exclusion, direct and indirect discrimination, abuse, and harassment, there is a disproportionate representation of transgender individuals in prison” meaning that there is a higher percent of incarcerated trans people than the percentage they make up of the general population. This is due to the inequality they face outside prison that is just intensified inside prison, not just by the inmates but by the staff too. They also try to explain why some trans women are assaulted in prisons later in the article when they explain “Transgender women prisoners identified the constant sexual abuse was due to other prisoners” identifying them as “prison whores”, as one transgender women prisoner explained: ‘They think I’m a slut because I have breasts. We’re prison whores. That’s how we’re seen, especially if we have breasts.’” They are seen as sexual objects and things to help relieve the pent up testosterone from being in prison for so long. The problem with trans women in male prisons is not their own fault instead it’s the fault of the patriarchy. The patriarchal views that men have grown up with have created the view that everything around them is solely for their own pleasure. Trans women in a womanless prison is a perfect example of this, putting these women in men’s units is just asking for them to be hurt in so many ways. 

In the video “A Message of Hope for Transgender People.” featuring Shea Diamond she speaks about her time in prison as a trans woman after committing an armed robbery. She went to prison for 10 years and during that time she was harassed and assaulted. She became an activist and has been fighting for trans rights ever since. I highly recommend you give it a watch as it is a good look at a first hand experience. 

The issue at hand is a big one and the solution is not clear but by god do we need a solution, the situation has gone from bad to worse at an alarming rate with no end in sight. We must bring awareness and listen to the words of these women fighting for their sisters incarcerated. These people are no different than the cis-gender inmates they spend their days with but yet are treated with so much hate and torment, I’d like to ask why. So why? Why is it that these women must spend their days with horny, hateful men who use them as sex dolls and punching bags? I can tell you why right now, it always comes down to the patriarchy and the hatefulness it teaches. The patriarchal view that if you’re not the same race, sexuality, or have the same gender orientation as George Washington you are seen as different and treated as such. This isn’t just an American problem, this is happening all over the world. But to get to the whole world we must first start here. You can help by amplifying the voice of trans women or even sharing your own voice. This is an important issue, if there is one thing you take away from this I hope it is to listen to trans voices because they have a lot of important things to say.

Authors Biography

Brenna Dwyer is a freshman at the University of North Florida. She is studying Graphic Design and wishes to be a product designer but isn’t shy to talk about politics. She was born in D.C. and raised in Maryland. Growing up in a diverse area such as D.C. she learned a lot about inclusivity and how to amplify others’ voices instead of talking over them. During her time in D.C., she attended a handful of protests and marches many of which were for trans and LGBTQ+ rights. Being a part of the LGBTQ community herself she takes pride in attempting to make a difference.

Citations

II, M. M. (2022, November 9). Nikita Dragun arrested and misgendered in Miami. Time. Retrieved April 20, 2023, from https://time.com/6231757/nikita-dragun-arrested-miami/ 

A trans agent of social change in incarceration: A psychobiographical … (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2023, from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jopy.12745 

The experience of transgender women prisoners serving a sentence in a … (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2023, from https://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/CDBBGHEG6XDSBQSM9UZE/full 

“A Message of Hope for Transgender People” Alexander Street, The Economist, In Daily Watch, 2017 https://video-alexanderstreet-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/watch/a-message-of-hope-for-transgender-people?utm_campaign=Video&utm_medium=MARC&utm_source=aspresolver

Sanders, B. (2015, Sep 16). Book focuses on transgender women in male prisons. Windy City Times Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/book-focuses-on-transgender-women-male-prisons/docview/1720036599/se-2

Brenna Dwyer