Fighting Back Against Retaliation: An Update about Sagal Sadiq’s Hunger Strike
Last week, we interviewed Amie Ichikawa from Woman II Woman about Sagal Sadiq. You can watch the full hour-long interview, Crisis in the World’s Largest Women’s Prison, here.
Sagal is a trans-identified female prisoner currently incarcerated in California. Based on incidents reported to us by Sagal and witnesses, there is good reason to believe that prison administrators treated Sagal in a retaliatory way: after witnessing a trans-identified male inmate sexually harass an incarcerated woman, Sagal filed a grievance to document the incidents.
“I submitted a [formal complaint] to housing staff. The officer asked me why I was documenting it, and I said this behavior was inappropriate and was I believed that it was going to escalate... Sometime after this, this predator I reported decided to retaliate against me. We were in the kitchen and he ‘shoulder-checked’ me, which means when he walked by me he hit me with his shoulder super hard … in an effort to bully me and dissuade me from carrying on with the [grievance] I had filed.”
- Sagal Sadiq, as quoted in "Woman Being 'Punished' For Complaining About Male Transfers" (Reduxx)
Instead of responding appropriately to Sagal’s report, prison administrators moved Sagal from the “honor dorm” section of the prison into general quarters - a move many people interpreted as retaliation against Sagal.
In protest, Sagal went on a hunger strike that lasted more than a month. Sagal accused the prison staff of retaliation and demanded to be returned to the honor dorm. After more than 40 days without food, Sagal’s life was in extreme jeopardy. We are relieved to report that just a few days ago, the prison administrators decided to return Sagal to the honor dorm, and Sagal ended the hunger strike.
However, while we are glad to hear that Sagal’s life is no longer in danger from the hunger strike, we are still gravely concerned about the physical safety and psychological well-being of every single female prisoner in California’s prisons. The vast majority of California’s incarcerated women are survivors of sexual violence and domestic violence. They are retraumatized every day by being forced to share prison cells and intimate spaces with men.
If you are outraged by California’s decision to house vulnerable female prisoners alongside violent men, you can take action by learning more about our lawsuit against the CA Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and donating to support our work.