Nancy fix anderson women's studies essay contest winner

Women's Studies Writing Awards

The Nancy Fix Anderson Women's Studies Essay Contest

This award honors Dr. Nancy Fix Anderson, Professor Emerita of History (1974-75; 1979-2006), a founding member of the Women’s Studies Program and former chair of the Women’s Studies Committee. A popular teacher and committed scholar in women’s history, she was one of the first women faculty to receive Loyola's prestigious Dux Academicus award (1994). The contest is open to all Loyola students. Entries should be non-fiction prose, such as research papers, position papers, reports. Essays should have been written in a course for academic credit during the academic year in question or in the previous Spring or Summer term, and validated by the instructor of the course to be authentic and original. Topics can be in any academic discipline, but must concern an issue specific to women or gender.

LINdsey Navarro

Lindsey Navarro is from New Orleans, Louisiana. She has been passionate about feminism and social justice since a young age, and she intends to incorporate elements of both in her future profession. As a Latina woman, it is also important to Lindsey that feminism is intersectional and that spaces are made for the voices of people of color. Lindsey is a criminology and justice and psychology double major, and she is currently working on an encyclopedia article about transgender sex workers. She is an aspiring professor,and looks forward to being in the classroom and helping students reach their full potential. Lindsey is also passionate about issues such as prison reform, immigration reform, environmental reform, and destigmatizing sex work.

Identifying and Proposing Solutions for Issues Posed by Transgender Inmates

Transgendered people are persons who identify with a gender different from that which they were assigned at birth. Transgender people face a multitude of discrimination, bigotry, and negative stereotypes based on their gender identity. Not only is this true in regards to normal society, but also in a correctional setting. Transgender inmates are the target of violence and harassment at a larger volume than cis-gendered inmates. Though PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act) aims to address the rate of violence and sexual harassment against transgender inmates, provisions such as proper healthcare and housing for inmates are either too vague, abridge upon the personal rights of transgender inmates, or are not properly maintained by the state. Louisiana aims to address these issues and provide proper care, in all aspects, for transgender inmates.

Misgendering of Transgender Inmates

The process of assigning a transgender inmate to their appropriate correctional facility is, in itself, a large part of the problem. Though sporadically decided on a case-by-case basis, largely speaking, transgender inmates are housed according to their assigned gender at birth. Inmates are strip-searched in front of both correctional staff and (sometimes) other inmates for security reasons, and to determine their gender via their genitalia (Scott, 2013; Sexton, Jenness, & Sumner, 2010; Tarzwell, 2006). In turn, inmate genitalia, rather than gender identity, is used to classify transgender inmates as male or female. (Routh, Douglas; Abess, Gassan; Makin, David; Stohr, Mary K.; Hemmens, Craig; Yoo, Jihye). This process of classifying a transgender inmates’ genitalia is dehumanizing and also exposes their identity to correctional officers and potentially other inmates, increasing the knowledge of their identity and the likelihood of targeted harassment. Oftentimes inmates have not yet undergone sex reassignment surgery, so though they may possess genitals normative to a specific gender, he or she may not necessarily identify with that gender or even resemble typical characteristics associated with that gender. For example, a female-identifying transgender inmate may have male genitalia, and vice versa. In this case, their presence in a correctional facility other than the gender he or she resembles or identifies with creates a safety risk, as other inmates will more than likely flock to this inmate and make him or her a repeated target of sexual violence or harassment. This process also increases the probability of harassment of transgender inmates by correctional officers, who oftentimes lack the proper sensitivity training or understanding in dealing with transgender inmates. In one account, a male-to-female transgender inmate was strip-searched and taunted by Identifying and Proposing Solutions for Issues Posed by Transgender Inmates correctional officers who referred to her as “titty man” and made other similar demeaning remarks ((Scott 2013) (Routh, Douglas; Abess, Gassan; Makin, David; Stohr, Mary K.; Hemmens, Craig; Yoo, Jihye)). Lack of Proper Healthcare for

Transgender Inmates

The comprehensive care of transgender inmates includes many elements, such as hormone therapy, counselling, and possibly sex reassignment surgery. One main problem with receiving access to such care is that if it is even available to transgender inmates, they are required to obtain an official diagnosis of gender identity disorder as a mental illness (Maruri 2011). Classifying transgender inmates as mentally ill or having a gender identity disorder is not only dehumanizing, but it also upholds typical stereotypes that the transgender community actively works to dismantle. Many transgender inmates have poor health arising from substance abuse, poverty, and mental health disorders which existed before incarceration (Alexander & Meshelemiah, 2010; Brown & McDuffie, 2009; von Dresner et al., 2013). Typically they have received little, if any, treatment for their conditions, including diagnostics (Routh, Douglas; Abess, Gassan; Makin, David; Stohr, Mary K.; Hemmens, Craig; Yoo, Jihye). Care for these issues may be extremely limited, or even ignored by correctional staff who either simply cannot afford to provide care for these inmates, or are ignorant on transgender issues and deem it easier to ignore rather than address these issues. In addition to this, many transgender inmates are unwilling to receive the diagnosis mandatory to receive care, and if they do, the diagnosis is oftentimes overlooked or ignored by correctional staff members who believe

that these requests are simply a means of securing body altering procedures for vanity and cosmetic purposes Identifying and Proposing Solutions for Issues Posed by Transgender Inmates (Routh, Douglas; Abess, Gassan; Makin, David; Stohr, Mary K.; Hemmens, Craig; Yoo, Jihye). Lack of proper care can result in high rates of depression, suicide, and other mental health related issues for transgender inmates.

Violence Faced by Transgender Inmates

Amongst the many issues faced by transgender inmates is violence not only from other inmates, but from correctional staff as well. While roughly 4% of adult inmates report being sexually assaulted while incarcerated, 35–40% of transgender inmates report the same ((Beck, Berzofsky, Caspar, & Krebs, 2013; Beck, 2014)(Malkin, &Dejong 2018)). This is a prevalent issue among male-to-female transgender individuals forced to serve out their sentence in a male correctional facility. Their feminine features make them and presence amongst the general population increases the probability of becoming a target for harassment. In an effort to combat this, some states have designated transgender individuals to solitary confinement. While this decreases the likelihood of violence, it brings about possible psychologically damaging effects from isolation and limited human interaction. Some states have also provided separate bathroom facilities for transgender inmates in an effort to minimalize occurrences of rape and sexual harassment. An alarming study from The National Inmate Survey concludes that transgender inmates are at similar risk to be assaulted by staff as by other inmates, particularly in local jails (Melkin, & DeJong 2018). Though the occurrence of violence against transgender inmates is disproportionately higher than that amongst cis-gendered inmates, there are provisions under PREA that make it unlawful to ignore the special circumstances of transgender individuals and Identifying and Proposing Solutions for Issues Posed by Transgender Inmates protect trans inmates from violent assault. While PREA was a big step in corrections, it did not force states to immediately change their prison policies—though states did face a loss of federal funding if they were not in full compliance with PREA mandates by 2015 (Malkin, & DeJong). By June of 2015, only ten states reported being in compliance with PREA: Arizona, Iowa, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington (United States Department of Justice, 2015).

Current Policies in Louisiana Regarding Transgender Inmates

Although Louisiana reports being in full compliance with PREA, there are no specific policies that address transgender inmates (Routh, Douglas; Abess, Gassan; Makin, David; Stohr, Mary K.; Hemmens, Craig; Yoo, Jihye). This is not out of a lack of necessity, however, as there are several reported instances of transgender inmates of Louisiana suing for improper protection or care. For example, a transgender inmate sued Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Daniel Edwards and members of his staff in 2017. “The 2017 lawsuit said jailers failed to segregate the inmate from the male general population at the jail, despite her gender identity, her having told the booking officer she was depressed and despondent, or her history of psychological disorders. It said the inmate was beaten and raped by other prisoners. When she encountered deputies, they ignored her complaints, and her bloodied face and clothes. One deputy ‘responded that if she did not shut up he would shoot her’”(McGill 2018). The likelihood of lawsuits such as these surfacing could be thwarted by the establishment of specific and explicit state policies in Louisiana regarding transgender inmates and how to properly care for them and protect them against violence in order to ensure a safe and welcoming environment.

Prospective Solutions

One prospective solution would be mandatory sensitivity training for correctional officers and establishing a zero tolerance for transphobic actions or language committed by correctional officers. This sensitivity training would increase knowledge of and provide proper guidelines for dealing with transgender inmates. This would also likely decrease the rate of misgendering inmates by using incorrect pronouns and using insensitive or derogatory language when addressing transgender inmates. An additional solution previously mentioned would be to designate separate bathrooms for transgender inmates, but allowing inmates to decide for themselves whether or not they would like to be subjected to solitary confinement. This would decrease the rate of violence and sexual assault while still assuring that the mental health of transgender inmates is being considered. Another resolution in regards to the mental health of transgender inmates would be to establish mandatory counselling sessions whereby the inmate is free to discuss any issues he or she faces as a transgender inmate and receive advice from a mental health professional on how to cope with those issues. In addition to this, allowing transgender inmates to decide for themselves whether they would prefer to be housed in a male or female correctional facility reduces the instances of derogatory and unlawful practices such as strip searches while also ensuring the comfort of the individual. This would also assist in lowering the amount of lawsuits against correctional facilities by transgender inmates who feel as though their gender identity was either ignored or disregarded. Also, male-to-female transgender inmates housed in a female correctional facility as opposed to a male correctional facility may face a reduction in terms of violence and sexual assault.

References

Iyama, K. (2012). We Have Tolled the Bell for Him: An Analysis of the Prison Rape Elimination Act and California's Compliance as It Applies to Transgender Inmates. Tulane Journal of Law Sexuality 21, 23-48. Malkin, M. L., & DeJong, C. (2018). Protections for transgender inmates under prea: A comparison of state correctional policies in the united states. Sexuality Research & Social Policy: A Journal of the NSRC. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s13178-018-0354-9 Routh, D., Abess, G., Makin, D., Stohr, M. K., Hemmens, C., & Yoo, J. (2017). Transgender inmates in prisons: A review of applicable statutes and policies. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 61(6), 645–666. https://doi. org/10.1177/0306624X15603745 Maruri, S. (2011). Hormone therapy for inmates: metonym for transgender rights. Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy 20(3), 807-832. McGill, K. (2018, March 2). Transgender Inmate's Suit Against Louisiana Sheriff Settled. The Associated Press, retrieved from https://www.usnews.com/news/best states/ louisiana/articles/2018-03-02/transgender-inm ates-suit-against-louisiana-sheriff-settled

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