trans woman raped in ny men’s prison wins historic settlement

A small amount of justice was had this week when LeslieAnn Manning, 51, a recently incarcerated trans woman, was awarded $100,000 in damages for a claim of sexual assault at a New York state prison in 2003. According to Manning, the assault took place on February 5 2013 at the Sullivan Correctional Facility, a facility she claims failed to prevent the attack. Her attacker is also accused of attacking another transwoman inmate prior to her arrival in the jail, begging the question: why are these women being housed with men>

“Our hope is that the settlement will prompt change in the Department of Corrections to protect transgender prisoners from sexual assaults like the one she [Manning] experienced,” Professor Susan Hazeldean, founder and director of the Brooklyn Law School LGBT Advocacy Clinic which litigated the case alongside the Civil Rights Clinic at Cardozo Law School, told Newsweek.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than 1/3 of trans people locked up in prisons and jails experienced the highest rates of sexual assault of any demographic studied. And one of the easiest ways to quell this begging with allowing inmates to be housed with their correct gender.