Nearly 90 percent of transgender people in state prisons have been placed in solitary confinement at some point during their incarceration, according to a new report by the Vera Institute of Justice and the prison abolitionist organization Black & Pink.
“Most respondents experienced solitary confinement, sometimes as a result of harassment, discrimination, or concerns for safety,” the report says.
The report includes the insights of 280 transgender individuals incarcerated in state prisons in 31 states, with approximately 73 percent identifying as transgender women. In terms of racial demographics, roughly 46 percent of respondents were white, 24 percent were Black, 14 percent were Latinx, 11 percent were Native American, and around 5 percent identified as multiracial or belonging to other racial groups.
“Many respondents reported having sought out protective custody as their best option to feel safe,” the report says. “Based on respondents’ self reported responses, the average number of stints (times) in solitary confinement while serving their current sentence was 7.7, and the median was three stints — with the median length of time served in prison so far being about 14 years. Ten percent of respondents reported going to solitary confinement 15 times or more.”
United Nation (UN) experts have said that the U.S. practice of holding people in prolonged solitary confinement amounts to a form of torture. “The severe and often irreparable psychological and physical consequences of solitary confinement and social exclusion are well documented and can range from progressively severe forms of anxiety, stress, and depression to cognitive impairment and suicidal tendencies,” Nils Melzer, the UN Special........