WASHINGTON D.C. — Today, Independent Women recognizes April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month, which takes place annually to raise awareness and prevent sexual violence, bringing to light the courage of sexual assault survivors, including 86% of currently incarcerated women nationwide.
Earlier this year, Independent Women released an extensive report, titled “Cruel and Unusual Punishment: Stopping the Dangerous Policies Putting Men in Women’s Prisons,” that emphasizes the threat posed to vulnerable female inmates when trans-identifying men—including convicted sex offenders—are housed in female-only facilities. The report calls for meaningful action to protect female inmates from sexual violence through both policy and legal reforms, including amending the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) to prevent gender identity-based transfers to women’s prisons.
Read Independent Women’s Cruel & Unusual Punishment report here.
The report came less than a year after the launch of an exclusive mini documentary series, “Cruel & Unusual Punishment: The Male Takeover of Female Prisons,” produced by Independent Women’s grassroots storytelling and journalism arm, Independent Women Features (IW Features). Through the ongoing Cruel & Unusual Punishment docu-series, IW Features brings voices to light who detail the untold, harrowing story of betrayal of female inmates behind prison walls. As more and more prison systems allow men to declare themselves “women” and opt to be housed in facilities meant for women only, the voices of those most affected deserve to be heard.
Watch Cruel & Unusual Punishment on IW Features here.
Independent Women Senior Policy and Legal Analyst Inez Stepman said: “Sexual assault is regrettably a completely predictable consequence of putting men, disproportionately sex offenders, into female prisons. Some violence is intractable and difficult to prevent, this is not one of those situations. Right now, in the United States, we are exposing incarcerated women to a completely unnecessary but very real risk of sexual assault because eliminating that risk would be at odds with gender ideology.”
IW Features Managing Editor Andrew Mew said: “Sexual Assault Awareness Month shouldn’t be a hollow slogan — it should mean standing up for every survivor, including the ones the left wants to ignore. Our work in Cruel & Unusual Punishment and Identity Crisis has exposed how radical policies are endangering women in prisons simply trying to reform themselves, and abandoning female detransitioners after they’ve been pushed down a destructive path. Why are the same activists who claim to fight for women’s rights silent when it comes to protecting the most vulnerable women? It’s time to end the gaslighting and put women’s safety above ideology.”
Amie Ichikawa, a former inmate, Independent Women ambassador, and co-founder of Woman II Woman, said: “We can’t ignore the suffering of incarcerated women, who are vulnerable to abuse, silencing, and systemic neglect. There is an overwhelming level of deliberate indifference regarding the widespread sexual abuse and rape culture that plagues our nation’s women’s prisons. This unfortunate reality must be exposed, and I was able to take the first step in doing that when I contributed to the Independent Women’s Features docu-series ‘Cruel and Unusual Punishment: The Male Takeover of Women’s Prisons”. The forced cohabitation of biological males in women’s correctional facilities is not rehabilitation—it is state-sanctioned cruelty and we cannot expect correctional staff who are also abusing these women to perform their duty of keeping them safe. As a survivor of the carceral system, I can wholeheartedly say: these are violations of basic dignity and a betrayal of justice. Women deserve safety, even in prison.”
A snapshot into IW Features’ Cruel & Unusual Punishment series:
Amie Ichikawa’s Story | Exposing ‘Trans Supremacy’ Inside Women’s Prisons
“My arrest was the beginning of my advocacy. At least that got me here, so I can be an advocate for vulnerable, incarcerated women.”
Jennifer Barela’s Story | Former Inmate Exposes Sex Discrimination After Women’s Prisons Welcomed Men
“What little rights that we did have as inmates have been diminished with the ‘trans men’ who’ve come in. And I just hope to give the women back some sort of voice.”
Hector Bravo Ferrel’s Story | Prison Guard Resigns After ‘Immoral’, ‘Dangerous’ Trans Policies