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1. Hey everyone. For the last three months @ginamckeon and I have been investigating what happened to Mara Ellis in one of Australia’s largest men’s prisons for @BackgroundBrief. I want to share what we’ve learned. [THREAD]
2. Mara is a 24-year-old transgender woman who spent more than four months remanded in WA’s notorious Hakea Prison in 2018. She was charged with assaulting her partner and two police officers.
3. The prison knew she was transgender, so when she was processed, they decided she couldn’t share a cell for her own safety. Evidence shows if you’re trans and locked up, you’re more likely to be physically, sexually and verbally assaulted by other inmates and staff.
3. So, for her own protection, Mara was placed in segregated cells in a part of Hakea that’s usually reserved for punishment. Mara says the conditions were akin to torture. You can read about her experience in her own words here. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-03/life-as-a-transgender-woman-locked-up-in-a-mens-prison/12412736
4. A few months later, despite the prison’s own assessment that Mara was not to share a cell, she was shifted to the mainstream part of Hakea. There she was surrounded by around 30 men for 7 hours a day and shared a cell with a man. She told me she was sexually assaulted.
6. After spending two weeks in mainstream, she’s granted bail. She doesn’t go back to prison and ends up serving community orders for the assault charges. Unfortunately, Mara’s story isn’t unique.
7. It’s estimated there are up to 400 trans and gender diverse people in prison cells around Australia. They are often assessed and housed inappropriately, and placed in areas they’re not safe in. Like trans women in men’s prisons.
8. Policies around the management of trans, gender diverse and intersex prisoners vary. Some jurisdictions have explicit self-identification policy, while others make decisions based on medical intervention. You can read more about it here. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-03/why-are-transgender-women-jailed-in-mens-prisons-in-australia/12416562
While WA’s Justice dept. wouldnt respond directly to Mara’s allegations, the Corrective Services Commissioner has committed to implementing a trans, gender diverse and intersex inmate specific policy by Nov. Hear me question him about it in this week’s BB. https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/why-was-this-woman-sent-to-male-prison/12416714
10. Finally, it takes an army to investigate, produce and publish a story like this. Thank you, Mara Ellis, @ginamckeon, @alicitabrennan, @alexsmann, @bsveen, Leila Shunnar, Ingrid Wagner, Isabella Tropiano, @s_mitchell (cont.)
Alex Palmer, @jackffisher, @lewgus, Katia Shatoba, @doctorworkman, @sebasu101 and Samuel Luke. You’re a bunch of absolute guns.
