Published on May 30, 2024, 1:14 am

In a recent documentary issued by a conservative body, the Independent Women’s Forum, a survivor of sexual assault shared her experiences living in a women’s prison alongside male offenders identifying as transgender. This groundbreaking documentary puts a face to the narrative of Evelyn Valiente (pseudonym), who has survived sexual abuse and previously served time in the Central California Women’s Facility. Here, she was enforced to live with a convicted murderer, a biological male who identified as female.

Soon after initial interactions, Valiente claimed that this transgender inmate began exhibiting manipulative and harmful behavior. “At first I thought it was going to be OK… but it didn’t take long before this individual was always seeking to do harm,” Valiente reported about the inmate who had multiple convictions for sex crimes.

The resurrection of traumatizing incidents has proven challenging due to legislation signed in 2020 by Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom. The law requires that state prisons house inmates relative to their identified gender, not their biological sex. Corrections officers are obliged to consult inmates privately regarding their identity and plan accommodation accordingly. For victims like Valiente and others hailing from abusive backgrounds, cohabitating with individuals convicted of sex crimes increases tension and fright within these housing units.

Despite government officials promoting this law as protective towards inmates’ rights, critics have argued that it furthers victimization for women prisoners who have already faced abuse. One such voice is Andrea Mew, storytelling manager for Independent Women’s Forum and co-producer of the documentary series who posited an interesting question: “If California focuses on rehabilitation, why subject women to retraumatization? Violent male criminals are given uncurbed access into female spaces.”

Multiple states have adopted laws permitting men identifying as females’ entry into women’s prisons across five states. However, the dynamic situations evolving from such legislations has led some states like Wisconsin shifting biologically male offenders identifying as transgender into all-female facilities, despite their histories of violent criminal behaviors.

This situation intensified when an inmate from New Jersey’s Edna Mahan Correctional Facility claimed to have been physically assaulted by a male inmate identifying as transgender. Another similar lawsuit demonstrates the ease of loopholes in statutes. Mew emphasizes, “People need to imagine how it would feel if someone they loved in prison was forced to share a cell or housing unit with a transgender inmate who has a history of violence.”

Despite numerous outreach attempts, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation declined to provide comments on this issue. As real news continues unfolding around us and trusted news sources strive to capture different perspectives, the Christian worldview calls for compassion and love towards all people – victim or offender, man or woman, transgender or cisgender. But where do we draw the line between respect for identity and safeguarding individuals from potential harm? These critical debates characterize part of our complex contemporary society.