SACRAMENTO, CA – Today, Independent Women Features (IW Features), the grassroots storytelling and original journalism arm of Independent Women, published a report on the disparities in the California Department of Corrections (CDCR) budget and healthcare services. This report exposes abuse of taxpayer dollars that prioritized spending on “gender affirming care” for male inmates at the expense of female inmates in California women’s prisons.

According to the report written by Caroline Downey, an IW Features contributor, and Amie Ichikawa, a former inmate in Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) and Independent Women ambassador, California enacted a radical gender inclusion housing policy in 2021 under California Senate Bill 132 (SB132). The state budget appropriated $2.8 million one-time and $1.2 million in ongoing costs to implement the law that allows incarcerated trans-identifying men to be housed with women.

According to records reviewed by IW Features: 

“From about fiscal year 2016 to 2023, California Correctional Health Care Services spent over $4 million on approximately 117 male inmates’ gender transition procedures, including 35 vaginoplasties, 69 laser hair removals, two facial feminization surgeries, and 11 breast implant procedures.”

CDCR has also provided free condoms to these trans-identifying males in women’s prisons, incentivizing male inmates to manipulate California’s gender inclusion policies to gain access to vulnerable female inmates. The result has been alleged rapes and pregnancies that hinder rehabilitation efforts for female inmates and leave them with more life-long physical and emotional trauma.

Since funds for health care services have been diverted to provide condoms and gender transition procedures for men in women’s prisons, female inmates have suffered inadequate healthcare services and a drinking water toxicity problem while their mental and physical security suffer.

IW Features has been a leading storytelling platform for the plight of incarcerated women forcibly housed with male inmates through its exclusive docu-series, Cruel & Unusual Punishment: The Male Takeover of Female Prisons..

Andrea Mew, managing editor of IW Features, said: “Why is California spending millions of taxpayer dollars to coddle violent men in women’s prisons, while ignoring the women they’re harming? This obvious state-sponsored betrayal of female inmates who simply deserve the best chance to rehabilitate is deplorable, and IW Features won’t hesitate to expose the truth.”

Caroline Downey, IW Features contributor and Independent Women senior fellow, said: “California state has rolled out the red carpet for male criminals to enter women’s prisons, saddling staff with the steep new responsibility of managing violent felons, and with insufficient resources and support. This story is a glimpse into the chaotic conditions at just one female facility, where male inmates have allegedly sexually abused female residents. It’s a moral disgrace and egregious government failure.”

Amie Ichikawa, Independent Women Ambassador and Founder of Woman II Woman, said: “California should not be selective in the abuses they defend incarcerated women from. I think we can agree that all forms of abuse are wrong and that they should all be addressed regardless of whether or not they lead to funding or contracts with the state.”

Read more stories about the male takeover of female prisons, as told in IW Features’ “Cruel and Unusual Punishment” series:

Direct media inquiries and booking requests to [email protected]. 

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Through grassroots storytelling and original journalism, IW Features provides unique and personal insight into the biggest issues facing Americans.