Feminists Protest Men Housed in Washington Women's Prisons
Photo via @GodessEnergyXX on Twitter
Women gathered at the Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) in Purdy on Saturday to protest the cruel policy of forcing incarcerated women to be housed with male offenders based on their self-proclaimed “gender identity.” The protest was organized as part of the Sovereign Women Speak conference, endorsed by a coalition of feminist organizations including WoLF, WHRC USA, Save Women’s Sports, and Women’s Liberation Radio News (WLRN).
Policies in the state Department of Corrections allow men to be housed in women’s prisons based on their claimed “gender identity” regardless of their history of violence against women or threat they may pose to vulnerable incarcerated women, who are overwhelmingly victims of abuse.
In May, a WoLF lawsuit revealed that at least seven men were currently being housed in Washington women’s prisons, including Donna (né Douglas) Perry, convicted of serially murdering victims of prostitution, and Hobbie Bingham (aka “Princess Zoee Marie Andromeda Love”), who was convicted of raping a 12-year old girl.
DOC records obtained by WoLF in that case also confirm that there are prison infraction records and PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act) records against several of these men, including 309 pages of infraction records for a particular male inmate.
According to the Sovereign Women Speak website, the purpose of the protest was to “tell the state of Washington that we are ready to do whatever it takes to stop this,” “tell the incarcerated women that they are not forgotten,” “tell the gender identity movement that we see what they are and we will not submit,” and “tell the world that women are fighting back.”
“It is the mission of Sovereign Women to land upon the doorsteps of not just this state but others to come, and they will come, one by one given this new “right” that men have into women’s most vulnerable spaces. We cannot stand by while women are raped in their own prisons by men claiming to be women.” - Sovereign Women Speak
Videos and photos from the protest show about 40 women outside the Purdy facility with signs and banners such as “Keep Prisons Single Sex” “No Males in Female Prisons” and “Gender Ideology Extremism Hurts Women.”
Video by Jesika Gonzalez of TERF Collective
Simultaneously, another protest, organized by feminist campaigner Heather Mason, took place outside the Fraser Valley Institution for Women in Abbotsford, BC (Canada) in opposition to similar policies.
WoLF Legal Director Lauren Adams spoke outside the Washington prison about the devastating impact of forcing women, who have often been victims of male violence in their lives, to be housed with men against their consent.
“I’ve spoken to women inside with years of sobriety, or long-term recovery from self-harm and eating disorders, who have relapsed,” she said. “One woman with a history of suicide attempts broke her own hand beating on the door, and asked to be placed in solitary, rather than sleep a single night next to her new male cellmate.”
A recent public records request submitted by a WoLF volunteer revealed that Washington State Department of Corrections’ method of assessing risk of perpetrating or being a victim of sexual assault has gaping failures that leave women vulnerable.
WoLF is currently campaigning to overturn SB 132 in California, a case that could have far reaching implications for the region, including Washington state.
