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Lesbian teens face
worse treatment in New York prisons claims report
28-September-2006
Katherine Knowles
 A
report by the Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU) suggests that conditions facing gay teenagers in
prisons are worse than those for straight teenagers.
Mie Lewis, who
wrote the report said; “New York wants to hide the fate of the girls
it incarcerates. Abuses have continued because the public has been
kept in the dark”.
The report looked
at two correctional facilities for juveniles, Tryon and Lansing,
which are part of New York State’s prison service. They are run by
the New York Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), and are
the only higher security facilities in the state that are
specifically for girls. Most inmates are 15 or 16, though some can
be as young as 12.
Former inmates
were interviewed along with current inmates to build a comprehensive
picture of prison life. From this data, the writers were able to
catalogue a series of abuses, which, they claim, involve girls being
“frequently and unnecessarily subjected to strip searches, verbal
abuse and
threats”, as well as being handcuffed and shackled whenever they
leave the building. This is in violation of the OCFS’s regulations
in all but emergency situations.
The report
expressed concern that “staff sometimes use [these measures] to
punish girls for minor acts such as improperly making their beds or
not raising their hands before speaking.” Typical injuries sustained
from violent restraint include “rug burns – abrasions on their faces
– as well as cuts, bruises, and in rare cases a concussion or a
broken limb."
Though the report
paints a shocking picture of prison life for these young and
vulnerable people, it also suggests that conditions for lesbian
teenagers are even worse.
One girl who was
15 when she was imprisoned in Lansing said; "If you’re gay they
think you think you’re a man, so they restrain you harder. They have
an attitude of ‘If you want to be a man, I’ll restrain you like a
man.’ That place [Lansing] was unstable. I was restrained 10 or 12
times.”
Following an
investigation, last year the ACLU sued the State of Hawaii over
abuses of LGBT teenagers in correctional facilities. The State
eventually agreed to pay over $600 000 to end the lawsuit after a
judge found that conditions at the facility were “in a state of
chaos”.
It is not yet
known whether similar legal proceedings will take place in this
instance.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-2599.html
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