FAIR News: Protect Women's Prisons
Newsletter
Dear Friends of FAIR:
This week, we launched a comprehensive advocacy campaign to address the critical issue of male inmates being housed in Washington state prison facilities meant exclusively for females. In recent years, the Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) has made significant efforts to accommodate transgender, nonbinary, and intersex prisoners by allowing them to choose housing that aligns with their gender identity. While we support efforts to uphold the dignity and humanity of all individuals, this practice has led to the elimination of female-only prisons in Washington, which is both unacceptable and unsafe. Indeed, FAIR has received reports of physical and emotional harm inflicted on female inmates who are forcibly housed with male prisoners.
Due to biological and sociological differences, females are, on average, vulnerable to physical and emotional harm in ways males are not. For example, females are generally smaller and have less upper and lower body strength than males. Additionally, only females can become pregnant. Incarcerated females are also at least six times more likely than males to have been sexually abused by males before entering the prison system. Because of these differences, any policy allowing prisoners to select housing based on gender identity, rather than biological sex, inherently results in discriminatory treatment of female inmates. Far from being places in which female inmates can rehabilitate themselves to eventually rejoin society, in Washington state, they are being actively retraumatized by their male co-inmates, simply because these men self-identify as another gender.
In hopes of securing a timely and adequate solution to this problem, FAIR sent a formal letter to DOC Secretary Cheryl Strange, alerting her to our advocacy campaign and urging immediate action to secure equal protection for female inmates. However, FAIR is prepared to coordinate and fund a lawsuit if necessary to uphold the constitutional rights of female prisoners in Washington.
Women’s rights don’t simply end at the prison doors. Female inmates are among the least powerful members of society and are largely unable to fight for themselves—FAIR is here to stand up for their right to bodily safety while incarcerated. We will take whatever necessary measures to ensure their protection and uphold justice, proving that even within the prison system, the fundamental rights of women must be respected and preserved.
With determination,
Leigh Ann O’Neill
Director, FAIR Legal
FAIR’s Teaching About Identity: Lessons From Around the World series is an exploration of the question: What can we learn from history about how school environments have impacted racially, ethnically, or politically divided societies?
Using as case studies 1930s Germany, 1960s China, and 1980s-90s Rwanda, the series does a deep dive into education in times and places where identity has been a divisive factor, and provides information to help the reader draw insights for building unity in classrooms today.
The Rwanda installment of the series was done as a live event, to great acclaim. The installments on 1960s China and 1930s Germany are available as PDFs. Check out the latest installment about 1930s Germany below!
Understanding Your Antidepressant Prescription: What You Need to Know about Informed Consent
On Thursday August 8th from 8:30pm-10pm ET, FAIR In Medicine will welcome clinical psychologist Roger McFillin to discuss diagnosing depression and informed consent for SSRIs and SNRIs.
29% of Americans are concerned about prescription medications' potential side effects. If you don’t understand the risks, benefits, and alternative treatments of your medications, then you are not Informed and should not Consent.
Informed Consent in Pregnancy
The drug Makena was prescribed to pregnant women without evidence that it worked. Maternal-fetal medicine physician Dr. Adam Urato fought to get that medication removed from the market. FAIR In Medicine is thrilled to welcome Dr. Urato to discuss the Makena story and informed consent in pregnancy. Join us on Thursday, August 15th, from 8:30 to 10 p.m. ET for this important discussion.
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This policy of housing male prisoners in women's prisons (which is the policy in most blue states) follows directly from state laws forbidding discrimination on the basis of "gender identity", and the fact that the same laws define "gender identity" as entirely up to the individual, with no external gatekeeping of any kind.
Unless and until these laws are repealed, there is no legal way to keep men who claim a "woman identity" out of women's prisons.
Or, for the matter, out of women's sports, women's locker rooms and showers, or generally any space, place, event, etc, designated as for women only.
It should be noted that ALL Democrats holding elected office (state or federal) support these laws. The equilvalent law at the federal level is the Equality Act, which has received unanimous support of Democrats in Congress. Joe Biden has called for its immediate passage in every state-of-the-union address.
"Far from being places in which female inmates can rehabilitate themselves to eventually rejoin society, in Washington state, they are being actively retraumatized by their male co-inmates, simply because these men self-identify as another gender." How did we get to this point? It makes no sense.
Thank you for this stance: "Female inmates are among the least powerful members of society and are largely unable to fight for themselves—FAIR is here to stand up for their right to bodily safety while incarcerated."