October is Domestic Violence Awareness month. As we look to uplift and honor the survivors of DV this month, we’d like to take a moment to call attention to an often invisibilized population of people that DV impacts on a different level—people hidden in California women’s prisons. Let’s not forget those who lost their freedom due to DV, and who continue to suffer from the many forms of State and Domestic Violence.
State violence and domestic violence are both manifestations of power dynamics and control, and there are numerous ways in which they intersect and influence one another. In many jurisdictions, the legal system has been slow to recognize or address domestic violence. In some cases, states may perpetuate violence against women by failing to criminalize marital rape or other forms of domestic abuse. When state structures perpetuate inequality, discrimination, or marginalization, they can indirectly contribute to an environment where domestic violence is normalized or tolerated. The state’s role in providing services (or failing to do so) can directly influence domestic violence dynamics. This includes access to shelters, healthcare, counseling, and legal services for survivors. In addition, State policies that lead to economic strain or inequality can indirectly increase the risk of domestic violence. Financial stress is often cited as a contributing factor to domestic violence situations.
According to data from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), in 2023, 3,798 people were incarcerated in women’s prisons in California. We know that a staggering number of these 3,798 incarcerated people are criminalized survivors of DV and other trauma. Research shows that 77% to 90% of people incarcerated in women’s prisons report having experienced prior emotional, physical, and/or sexual abuse. A disproportionate percentage of transgender people also report significant trauma prior to incarceration, including experiences of bullying, family rejection and isolation, eviction, criminalization, and mistreatment by police. Each of these factors is associated with higher rates of incarceration, primarily due to a lack of investment in community-based mental health support services and non-carceral violence intervention.
The state of California spends $405 million a year in its women’s prisons. Sexual harassment, abuse, and assaults of incarcerated people in the women’s prisons at the hands of correctional officers in California has been continuous and relentless. (Open Letter Call to Action)
In 2023 alone over fifty people in CA women’s prisons have filed lawsuits about sexual abuse experienced at the hands of correctional officers. As formerly incarcerated survivor Amika Mota puts it “Your abuser has the key to your cell.”
People incarcerated in women’s prisons face particular violence within the system. In the survey conducted by the Crisis to Care working group, 47% of respondents experienced sexual and/or gender-based violence while imprisoned. In one study of people incarcerated in women’s prisons, as many as 19% of participants reported that they had been sexually assaulted while incarcerated and that 45% of those assaults were by prison staff. Due to transphobia, transgender people experience even higher rates of violence in prisons and jails, with one study finding that transgender people incarcerated in California men’s prisons were 13 times more likely to experience sexual assault than cisgender men in the same prisons. Survey data finds that 47% of formerly incarcerated transgender women reported victimization or mistreatment (including physical assault, sexual assault, harassment, or denial of medical care) in prison, 44% of transgender men in women’s prisons reported harassment by prison staff, and 29% of transgender men in women’s prisons reported harassment by other incarcerated people. With the additive impact of racism, incarcerated Black and Latina transgender women are even more likely to report experiences of victimization. See the full From Crisis to Care report for more information.
Despite these grim statistics, we know that change is within reach. While rates of incarceration in women’s prisons have skyrocketed across the U.S. over the past decade, California’s women’s prison population has decreased by 70.8% due to persistent advocacy from many organizations which has resulted in significant state policy changes. California recently emptied the women’s units at Folsom State Prison, and the facility will be shut down in 2023. This is a positive step toward reducing the state’s carceral footprint, and much more can be done.
California has an opportunity to be a national leader in ending the state violence by incarceration, by closing its two remaining women’s prisons, releasing the people incarcerated there — only 4% of the state’s incarcerated population – by developing community/grassroots based non-carceral alternatives.
Closure is possible! Please join us in the efforts to end the state violence of CA women’s prisons!