Gender-affirmative housing in jails and prisons
Authors: Valerio Baćak, Katherine Bright, Lauren Wilson
Journal: The Lancet Public Health (2020)

Ayden Scheim and colleagues' study1Scheim AI Perez-Brumer AG Bauer GR Gender-concordant identity documents and mental health among transgender adults in the USA: a cross-sectional study.Lancet Public Health. 2020; 5: e196-e203Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (15) Google Scholar describing the association between possessing gender-concordant identity documents and mental health highlighted the profound importance of affirmed identity for transgender people. We want to further highlight how crucial gender affirmation is for transgender health, with a particular focus on the criminal justice system. Sexual and gender minority populations are incarcerated at a rate two to three times higher than the general population.2National Center for Transgender EqualityLGBTQ people behind bars: a guide to understanding the issues facing transgender prisoners and their legal rights.https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/resources/TransgenderPeopleBehindBars.pdfDate: 2018Date accessed: June 9, 2020Google Scholar, 3Meyer IH Flores AR Stemple L Romero AP Wilson BD Herman JL Incarceration rates and traits of sexual minorities in the United States: national inmate survey 2011–2012.Am J Public Health. 2017; 107: 267-273Crossref PubMed Scopus (63) Google Scholar Once in prison, transgender people are especially vulnerable. The latest national estimates show that around 40% of incarcerated transgender people have been sexually victimised over the past year, compared with only 4% of the general prison population.4Beck AJ Berzofsky M Caspar R Krebs C Sexual victimization in prisons and jails reported by inmates, 2011–12. US Department of Justice, Washington2013https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=4654Date accessed: June 9, 2020Google Scholar In jails, these estimates are around 27% and 3%, respectively. Sex-based housing determination is key to explaining such painfully widespread victimisation. Despite guidelines from the Prison Rape Elimination Act, the continuing practice of assigning transgender people to housing facilities on the basis of genitalia or sex assigned at birth can have devastating effects. A California study found that the prevalence of sexual assault among transgender women in men's prisons was 13 times greater than the rate for cisgender men.5Jenness V Maxson CL Matsuda KN Sumner J Violence in California correctional facilities: an empirical examination of sexual assault. University of California, Irvine2007https://ucicorrections.seweb.uci.edu/files/2013/06/BulletinVol2Issue2.pdfDate accessed: June 9, 2020Google Scholar Protecting the health and safety of transgender people requires policies and practices that ensure that people can serve their sentences in facilities and units consistent with their gender identity. A formerly incarcerated LGBTQ people in the New York metropolitan area told us that receiving her hard-fought identity document with the correct gender made “a world of difference”. As others have begun to note, dignified and gender-affirming correctional housing assignment can make a world of difference too.6Ledesma E Ford CL Health implications of housing assignments for incarcerated transgender women.Am J Public Health. 2020; 110: 650-654Crossref PubMed Scopus (3) Google Scholar We declare no competing interests. Gender-concordant identity documents and mental health among transgender adults in the USA: a cross-sectional studyPossession of gender-concordant IDs might improve mental health among trans persons. Gender recognition policies should be considered structural determinants of transgender health. Full-Text PDF Open Access