Condom Purchases and Sexual Assault
Internal documents describe devastating impacts of self-ID in California prisons
On May 12, 2021 WoLF submitted a request under the Public Records Access (PRA) Act to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The request was in response to many reports WoLF received from incarcerated women and their advocates about the consequences and harms from SB 132, including:
Assaults and other physical harms;
Quality of life reduction, including additional security measures such as harsher aerosols;
Changes to contraceptive policy and availability as a result of housing men in with female inmates; and
Poor safeguarding practices leading to dangerous men being transferred.
Last week, we received a response and all relevant documents that they were able to provide. We are publishing them here in full.
highlights
Since May 1, there have been 113 housing requests (or modifications to requests) from men’s facilities to women’s facilities (in addition to the 260+ housing requests already placed through April)
In 2021, the prisons made contraceptives fully available to incarcerated women for the first time ever.
In 2021, condoms were purchased for women’s facilities for the first time.
Records show a number of PREA reports involving male and/or trans-identified perpetrators or victims in women’s facilities. Note: The document is not searchable and does not have narrative details, so it is not possible to tell from this document alone the circumstances or outcomes of the incidents.
PRA requests and documents
Request: All records of the substantiated sexual assault allegations (inmate-on-inmate) which occurred within adult facilities in the years 2013 to 2019 including:
Type of incident
Location
General description of the events alleged
Assigned sex of all involved parties
Transgender status and/or gender identity of all involved parties
Responsive Document:
PRA – All Substantiated and unsubstantiated inmate on inmate allegations.pdf
Request: All records of the unsubstantiated sexual assault allegations (inmate-on-inmate) which occurred within adult facilities in the years 2013 to 2019 including:
Type of incident
Location
General description of the events alleged
Assigned sex of all involved parties
Transgender status and/or gender identity of all involved parties
Responsive Document:
PRA – All Substantiated and unsubstantiated inmate on inmate allegations.pdf
Request: All records of the substantiated sexual assault allegations (inmate-on-inmate) which occurred within juvenile facilities in the years 2013 to 2019 including:
Type of incident
Location
General description of the events alleged
Assigned sex of all involved parties
Transgender status and/or gender identity of all involved parties
Response: “As notified via GovQA on May 14, 2021, from Litigation Coordinator D. Meyers, CDCR does not have responsive documents.”
Request: All records regarding the procurement and distribution of condoms for inmates within Central California Women's Facility (CCWF) and California Institution for Women (CIW) from Jan 1, 2014 to May 1, 2021.
Responsive Documents:
Request: All written policies and procedures from years 2017 to 2021 regarding inmate pregnancy and inmate pregnancy prevention within all California correctional facilities.
Responsive Documents:
Request: All records related to the policies and procedures and training protocols regarding riot and/or crowd control, including purchase of new OC Aerosols (also known as pepper spray) between Jan 1, 2019 to May 1, 2021.
Response: “All Training materials, Lessons Plans, Local Operating Procedures, Handbooks and Videos regarding Alarm Response are confidential.”
Responsive Documents:
Request: A blank copy of all official forms used in the evaluation of transgender, nonbinary, intersex, and gender non-conforming inmates applying for transfers based on gender identity.
Responsive Documents:
Request: A full count of the number of transfer requests based on gender identity that have been submitted as of May 1, 2021.
Response:
“From May 1, 2021 through September 12, 2021, there have been 113 individuals housed in a male institution that have requested housing in a female institution.” *
“From May 1, 2021 through September 12, 2021, there have been 6 individuals housed in a female institution that have requested housing in a male institution.” *
*This data reflects new requests and requests updated by an individual during the reporting period of May 1, 2021 through September 12, 2021.