06/29/2023 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/29/2023 12:42
WASHINGTON - U.S. Representatives Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) and Jerrold Nadler (NY-12) led more than thirty lawmakers in calling on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to examine the prison conditions transgender individuals experience to inform actions to improve the treatment of transgender people in incarceration.
"Reports from prisons and jails routinely unearth pervasive harassment, sexual assault, and other forms of physical violence against trans people perpetrated by both other incarcerated people and facility staff," wrote the lawmakers. "The GAO has an opportunity to shed light on this critical issue."
In one survey conducted by National Center for Transgender Equality, one in five trans people reported being assaulted by correctional staff and 22 percent reported being assaulted by other incarcerated people in the past year. In addition to the threat of physical violence, trans people also face significant barriers to medical care during incarceration, with more than one-third of incarcerated trans people reporting being denied their hormone replacement therapy in the past year.
The treatment of trans individuals in jails and prisons not only raises moral and ethical concerns, but also significant legal concerns which must be addressed.
Specifically, the members are calling on the GAO to:
The full letter can be read here.
The letter was also signed by Becca Balint (VT-At Large), Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Cori Bush (MO-01), Greg Casar (TX-35), Sean Casten (IL-06), Judy Chu (CA-28), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Jesús "Chuy" García (IL-04), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-07), Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (GA-04), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37), Barbara Lee (CA-12), Summer Lee (PA-12), James P. McGovern (MA-02), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Donald M. Payne, Jr. (NY-10), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Katie Porter (CA-47), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Linda Sánchez (CA-38), Janice Schakowsky (IL-09), Mark Takano (CA-39), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Nikema Williams (GA-05), and Frederica Wilson (FL-24).