WoLF and KPSS Joint Letter to BOP Director on Men in Women’s Prisons
Michael Carvajal, Director
Bureau of Prisons
c/o FCI Tallahassee
BOP-IPP/PublicAffairs@bop.gov
TAL-ExecAssistant@bop.gov
RE: Males in Women’s Prison Facilities
Dear Director Carvajal:
It is our understanding you are visiting FCI-Tallahassee on Monday, August 16, 2021.
We would like to take this opportunity to express concern about male inmates being housed in women’s units in federal prisons. You may be aware that an incarcerated women at FCI-TAL, Rhonda Fleming, has filed a legal case against BOP on the basis that housing biological males in women’s facilities is unconstitutional.1 While we do not represent her, our organizations are supportive of her position.
Since the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Standards came into effect, only a modest number of incarcerated males have been moved to women’s federal prison facilities. Executive Order 13988 on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation directs all federal agencies to incorporate “gender identity” into definitions of “sex” discrimination. It has not yet been made public how, if at all, this will impact housing based on “gender identity” in the federal incarceration system. Were EO 13988 to be applied to BOP it would mean an enormous acceleration of the movement of biological males to women’s prisons.
We urge that BOP, and the Department of Justice, take the position that EO 13988 is not appropriately applied to prison housing. Were it to be, BOP would look much like California’s CDCR. Due to California law SB 132, which went into effect January 1, 2021, California allows biological male inmates to be moved to women’s prisons based on self-declared “gender identity” (also known as “self-ID”). The results have been devasting. Hundreds of male inmates have applied for transfer and none, as of yet, has been denied.2 There have been reports of physical abuse and of at least one pregnancy.3
In BOP’s contemplation of applying self-ID to prison housing, consideration should be given to:
Demographic Characteristics
There are significant differences between male and female prison populations. Most incarcerated individuals are male and men commit most of the violent crime. Women comprised just 7% of the federal prison population in 20194 and a majority of these were convicted of drug trafficking offenses (59%).5
In contrast, men committed 100% of the sexual abuse crimes by prisoners held in federal prison6 and 98% of the state prisoners sentenced for rape or sexual assault.7
Of those in state prison, men committed 94% of the murder and non-negligent homicide.8 In federal prisons, of those sentenced for homicide, 93% were men.9 In federal prisons, 19.6% of men were convicted of weapons charges compared with 4.7% of women.10
With the potential for the EO to result in states or counties being forced to house men in women’s correctional facilities (in order not to lose federal funding), and in following any lead that BOP provides, it is worth noting that in those systems, the percentage of violent men is even higher than in the federal system. Over 60% of the male inmates in state prison systems were convicted of violent or weapons offenses. More than 14% of male state prisoners are there for rape or other sexual offenses, while only 2.5% of female prisoners are incarcerated for sexual crimes.11
Among men claiming female identity, research indicates that better than 85% retain their male genitalia.12 The 2015 US Transgender Survey reports that a majority retain their sexual interest in women.13 Further, a 2010 California inmate study found that males identifying as women in men’s prisons were more frequently classified as sex offenders than were other men. Specifically, 20.5% of men claiming female identity in men’s prisons were registered sex offenders, compared with 14.6% of the general male population.14
Patterns of Offending Among Men Identifying as Women
It is difficult to find detailed data about male prisoners who identify as women in U.S. prison systems as the various levels of government often cite privacy concerns. Based on studies elsewhere, criminal behavior by males identifying as women is similar to that of other males. A Swedish study that followed several hundred individuals for a median of two years after they had gender reassignment surgery found:
[M]ale-to-females had a significantly increased risk for crime compared to female controls (aHR 6.6; 95% CI 4.1–10.8) but not compared to males (aHR 0.8; 95% CI 0.5–1.2). This indicates that they retained a male pattern regarding criminality. The same was true regarding violent crime.15
Similarly, statistical analysis in the U.K. of male prisoners identifying as women indicates male patterns of offenses. That is, the type of crimes they committed were the types of crimes commonly committed by men, rather than those committed by women. For example, data from 2019 indicate that 81 of 163 male prisoners identifying as women had at least one conviction for a sexual offense.16 In sum, crime committed by males who identify as women are consistent with those committed by other men; the crimes are more frequently violent and/or of sexual nature than those committed by women.
Trends Among Incarcerated Males Who Identify As Women
Housing the prison population based on gender identity may result in significantly higher claims of males identifying as female than for the population as a whole. In the UK, a report by Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons found that 1 in 50 male prisoners identified as women compared with 1 in 200 males in the general population.17
Were the male federal prison population to have the same (not more, just the same) percentage of prisoners identifying as women as the young adult general population18, that would be approximately 1139 prisoners.19 If all 1139 of those prisoners sought to be moved to a women’s facility under rules established under EO 13988, they would comprise approximately 8% of the federal women’s prison population. A change of this magnitude would impact the physical space, the availability of programs and the culture of women’s prison.
Examples of Incidents When Males Are Housed in Women’s Prisons
Providing male prisoners with access to female inmates potentially incentivizes claims of female gender identity or transgenderism. In the UK, women prisoners20 and female prison officers21 have been sexually assaulted by males claiming female identity. In a particularly egregious case, Karen White, formerly known as Stephen Wood, who had previously been convicted of indecent exposure at a child’s playground, indecent assault of boys aged 9 and 12, rape of a pregnant woman, and threatening to kill his 66 year old neighbor, began “gender realignment” while in prison and was moved into the women’s estate. There he attacked several women before he was finally jailed for life. “Prosecutor Chris Dunn described White as an ‘alleged transgender female’ who has used her ‘transgender persona to put herself in contact with vulnerable persons’ whom she could then abuse.”22
In Texas, women prisoners at Federal Medical Center Carswell filed multiple complaints in 2017 reporting that men claiming female identity had sexually harassed them in communal areas such as showers and bathrooms, intentionally exposing themselves, expressing sexual desire for the women, and subjecting them to lewd comments.23
In 2019, Janiah Monroe (aka Andre Patterson) was moved into the Logan Correctional Center, the largest women’s prison in Illinois. A female inmate alleged that she was raped by Monroe, reported the incident, and was pressured by prison officials to deny that it had happened. She says she was then punished for filing a false claim under the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). The woman subsequently filed a federal lawsuit against prison officials at Logan.24
This Spring, rape allegations were made in Washington State against an inmate transferring from a men’s facility to the women’s. According to the report, the county has adopted the same self-id policy as that which appears in EO 13988.25
And, most recently, as discussed above, since its self-ID law went into effect in January 2021, California has had several reported incidents, including an assault and a pregnancy.
Housing biological males who identify as women in women’s prisons shifts a fear of violence from males to women
Everyone deserves to be physically safe in prison. There are many groups of vulnerable men in prison: the elderly, the disabled, the gay, the effeminate, the small or physically weak. For none of these visibly vulnerable groups do we suggest that they should be housed in a female prison to protect them. However, the EO contemplates that, based on an internal gender identity belief that anyone may claim, this one group of biological males should be placed in a women’s prison. There is no necessity to place this one group in women’s prisons, jeopardizing female safety and wrecking female privacy and dignity. The mechanisms available to protect other vulnerable men in prison should be available to these men as well.
* * *
We urge that BOP not adopt the concept of self-ID in prison housing. Thank you for providing us this opportunity to raise our concerns about EO 13988 and its application to your agency.
Best regards,
Dr. Kate Coleman
Global Director
Keep Prisons Single Sex
info@keep-prisons-single-sex.org.uk
Lauren Adams
Legal Director
Women’s Liberation Front
legal@womensliberationfront.org
Thanks to WHRC USA for this original post
1 Rhonda Fleming v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, et al., No. 4:21-cv-325-MW-MJF (No. District of Florida)
2 California prisons consider gender-identity housing requests - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)
3 California Women’s Prison Housing Trans Prisoners Halts Condom Distribution Without Explanation, Memo Shows | The Daily Caller
4 Prisoners in 2019 (bjs.gov), Table 15.
5 Prisoners in 2019 (bjs.gov), Table 15.
6 Prisoners in 2019 (bjs.gov), Table 16.
7 Prisoners in 2019 (bjs.gov), Table 14.
8 Prisoners in 2019 (bjs.gov), Table 14.
9 Prisoners in 2019 (bjs.gov), Table 16.
10 Prisoners in 2019 (bjs.gov), Table 15.
11 Prisoners in 2019 (bjs.gov), Table 13.
12 Nolan, Ian T, Christopher J. Kuhner, and Geolani W. Dy. 2019. “Demographic and Temporal Trends in Transgender Identities and Gender Confirming Surgery.” Translational Andrology and Urology. https://tau.amegroups.com/article/view/25593/23748
13 USTS-Full-Report-Dec17.pdf (transequality.org)
14 Sexton, Lori, Valerie Jenness, and Jennifer Sumner. 2010. “Where the Margins Meet: A Demographic Assessment of Transgender Inmates in Men’s Prisons.” Justice Quarterly. 27:6, 835-866, DOI: 10.1080/07418820903419010
15 Dhejne, Cecilia, Paul Lichtenstein, Marcus Boman, Anna LV Johansson, Niklas Langstrom, and Mikael Landen. 2011. “Long-Term Follow-Up of Transsexual Persons Undergoing Sex Reassignment Surgery: Cohort Study in Sweden.” Plos One. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21364939/
16 Fair Play for Women. 2018. “Transgender Women Exhibit A Male-Type Pattern of Criminality: Implications for Legislators and Policymakers.” https://fairplayforwomen.com/transgender-male-criminality-sex-offences/
17 Borland, Sophie. 9 July 2019. “One in 50 male prisoners identify as female, compared with one in 200 in the general population.” Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7230755/One-50-male-prisoners-identify-female.html
18 How Many Adults Identify as Transgender in the United States? – Williams Institute (ucla.edu)
19 Prisoners in 2019 (bjs.gov) Table 2.
20 Beckford, Martin and Glen Owen. 9 May 2020. “Transgender Inmates Have Carried Out Seven Sex Attacks On Women In Jail.” Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8303753/Transgender-inmates-carried-seven-sex-attacks-women-jail.html
21 Owen, Glen. 13 April 2020. “Female Prison Officers Have Been Raped by Inmates Who Self-Identify As Trans Women.” Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8211325/Female-prison-officers-raped-inmates-self-identify-trans-women-claim.html
22 Parveen, Nazia. 11 October 2018. “Transgender prisoner who sexually assaulted inmates jailed for life.” The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/oct/11/transgender-prisoner-who-sexually-assaulted-inmates-jailed-for-life
23 Hanna, Bill. 22 February 2017. “Transgender Bathroom Battle Smolders in Fort Worth Federal Prison.” Fort Worth Star-Telegram. https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/fort-worth/article134353039.html
24 Transgender inmate accused of rape (archive.org)
25 DOC employee reports men are claiming to be women to transfer prisons (mynorthwest.com)