Subject: LWVIL Criminal Justice Position Update – Today's question is related to gender-responsive approach. The current League of Women Voters of Illinois position is stated below, followed by the updated consensus study questions on this topic.
3. Gender-Responsive Approach for All Offenders
Existing Position: NONE
Consensus Question: Should a Gender-Responsive Approach be used for all offenders with the goal of equitable and appropriate treatment?
PRO: Gender responsiveness means understanding the differences in characteristics and life experiences that men and women bring to the criminal justice system and adjusting practices in ways that appropriately respond to those conditions. More can be found at Fact Sheet on Justice Involved Women in 2016. The Prison Rape Elimination Act
The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) standards
provide that decisions about where a transgender person, or a person with an intersex condition, is housed must be made on a case-by-case basis.
Response: More than half of incarcerated women were convicted on nonviolent offenses, most of them drug or petty theft. Many of them are parents of minor children. Many of them also have a past history of being victims of physical and sexual violence. This is not the case with male prisoners. A gender responsive and rehabilitative approach would do a lot to prevent recidivism, help these offenders to become more productive citizens, and keep families intact. Transgender offenders (and all offenders) should be treated with dignity and protected from violence and disrespect from guards and from other inmates.
CON: Some inmates would object to transgendered people being transferred to their prison. There are a safety issue and cost issue in accommodating transgendered people.
Response: This position is difficult to defend as PREA already mandates that transgender decisions be made on a case-by-case basis. For the transgender person, there is a safety issue either way from being housed in a hostile environment. Creative ideas will be needed to deal with this and with the cost issue.
RESOURCES
PRO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pyjjd6yVxPA&ab_channel=TheLauraFlandersShow https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.nicic.gov/Library/018017.pdf https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/usts/USTS-Full-Report... (chapter 14)
CON
If you would like more information on this question, please contact Mary Hobein, LWV of Downers Grove, Woodridge, Lisle at mhobein [at] hotmail.com.
(PREA) was passed unanimously by Congress in 2003 and was
designed for all jail and prison populations. Among
anatomy or gender assigned at birth, and personal safety must be considered.
They cannot be made solely on the basis of a person’s
