Violence in a women's prison in Russia, including sexual violence: what is happening in the zone and colonies, what are the reasons for torture and abuse of prisoners?

In women's colonies there is no such strict hierarchy as in men's colonies: there is no division into clearly defined castes, there are no so-called “concepts”, there is no shame in doing physical labor. Little attention is paid to previous criminal records and the list of “prisons”: what is more important is what kind of person ended up in the cell, what use she can be to others, how generous her relatives are with parcels and gifts.

Regarding conditions and sanitation - depending on your luck. There are exemplary places where there are no interruptions in hot water, fresh food and reasonable medical care. There are others: with a high percentage of suicides due to the huge amount of violence, with rotten food, lack of banal medicines, moral and physical humiliation from management.

Who is considered slack in women's areas?

There are outcasts in women's colonies, as well as in men's colonies, but the attitude towards them is rather disgusting rather than aggressive. With one exception: they categorically do not like child killers and arrange for them to be “dark” at the first opportunity. Therefore, separate cells have been prepared for these ladies with those convicted under the same articles. They treat long-time drug addicts and heroin addicts with contempt - it is believed that they will sell anyone for a cigarette or a pinch of tea.

Women diagnosed with human viral immunodeficiency, patients with sexually transmitted diseases, and oncology are avoided. Oddly enough, they do not tolerate lazy people - after all, the entire camera team depends on the development of production standards, and everyone deserves punishment. Therefore, you won’t be able to give up work completely.

Conditions of detention

The conditions of detention depend on the type of correctional institution. But besides this, 2 identical colonies according to the established regime can differ significantly in conditions from each other. In one of them life will be unbearable, and in the other it may be more bearable.

As some returning prisoners say, living conditions largely depend on money. If they exist, then for them you can buy yourself a weaker regime, the favor of the head of the colony, and also win over your cellmates. But if no one sends additional money, newly arrived women have a hard time.

The convicts name the following as the main shortcomings and problems:

Unsanitary conditions . Almost every prisoner will agree that not everyone can get the most basic hygiene products, even ordinary soap. It can also be difficult to go to the toilet. And women are forced to do all intimate procedures in front of everyone. And this greatly disturbs the psyche of any representative of the fair sex. Also, in strict colonies, women do not always have the opportunity to walk in the fresh air, and this creates additional sources of infection.
Horrible attitude of the guards . Colonial staff often treat convicts as the very last people on earth. Of course, we can’t generalize everyone. But in almost every colony, convicts face such treatment. Therefore, humiliation and insults from colony workers are quite common.
Poor food . It is considered balanced and makes it possible for convicts to survive, but it cannot be called high-quality and complete. Since state budget funds are allocated for the maintenance of criminals, savings occur to the maximum. Also, funds are often withheld from the head of the colony, who seeks to save even more on his prisoners.
Terrible medical care . The risks of tuberculosis and HIV are very high here. The number of cases is striking, as it exceeds more than half of all prisoners. Women are not treated here, but only given emergency assistance if necessary.
Financial relations between prisoners and administration . Almost all convicts admit that if they do not enter into commercial relations with the administration of the colony, life will not be normal. Therefore, regular collections are normal here. For these funds you can buy yourself additional meetings with your family, a weakening of the existing regime, as well as the opportunity to use a cell phone.

Of course, all these frauds occur unofficially, and there is no documentary evidence of this. But there can't be so many rumors if it were all untrue. You can find out more about this in the video presented.

What's happening in the colonies?

Human rights activists are sounding the alarm: despite seemingly strict control and calls for the introduction of “transparency” in the affairs of prisoners, barbaric methods continue to be used in some colonies to maintain order and keep a large mass of people in line. Moreover, women suffer no less than men.

The most common torture and abuse of women prisoners in modern Russia are as follows.

Cold punishment cell. The guilty woman is sent to a punishment cell. This is a cold and very small room, in which there is often not even a stool, let alone a bed. Women are deprived of food and hygiene items; when trying to sleep, they are woken up by sound signals or kicks; they are raped or beaten with batons or tarpaulin boots.
Torture with an electric shocker. Electric current causes noticeable pain, but leaves no marks. This is what the colony employees take advantage of. Moreover, they bring the stun gun to the most sensitive female places:
Nipples.
Face.
Tied to bed. This method is used for violent prisoners or women who refuse to eat. They are tied to the beds in the shape of a “star” - with their arms and legs stretched out in different directions. Ordinary ropes are used, which cut into the skin and not only cause suffering, but also leave poorly healing marks. This torture lasts for hours: women are not allowed to get up even to go to the toilet.
Water torture. Water is used quite often. This is dousing in the cold. The victim is not allowed to warm up, is sent back to the cold chamber, and after a few hours is doused again. Heat in a container. A small basin is enough, into which liquid is poured and the victim’s face is dipped over and over again. When she starts to choke, they pull her out, let her breathe, and then dip her in again.
Torture by insomnia. The convict is placed in solitary confinement and is not allowed to sleep. The light in the cell is constantly on, and the guard looks through the door peephole from time to time, and if the woman has her eyes closed at that moment, she is rewarded with pokes or a blow with a baton. The case often ends in fainting.

general characteristics

No one can be sure that he will never end up in prison. Women are not immune from this either. Among the total number of crimes committed, the share of women is about 5%. There are about 35 correctional institutions of various types in Russia. They hold approximately 60 thousand women, including currently about 13,000 minor girls.

All conditions of detention directly depend on the form of the correctional institution. For women they are provided in the following types:

general regime , which includes women who have committed intentional crimes of grave and especially grave degrees;
colonies-settlements , they contain less dangerous criminals who are forced to serve their sentences;
strict regime, they include especially dangerous criminals who have committed criminal acts more than once.

For the most dangerous women in Russia there are only 2 institutions located in:

Bereznyaki;
Shakhovo village.

Here they are not just holding women who have repeatedly committed a crime, but all their actions were of a particularly serious nature. Usually they are imprisoned here for murder. Criminals who have been repeatedly convicted of theft most often end up in the general regime.

In addition to these institutions, there are also pre-trial detention centers where accused persons are kept until they are sentenced. If a woman admits her guilt for a serious crime, she is placed in a pre-trial detention center. Typically, all insulators were always mixed. But now they have begun to separate them, so there are 3 women-only pre-trial detention centers in the capital, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg.

It is important to note that women are not given life sentences, so there are no special detention facilities for them as there are for men.

Jasmine Rose Jones is a woman. But she was held in a men's prison for nearly 23 years, where Jones says she was raped, assaulted and abused simply because she was transgender.

Jones was released in May 2021 and now works as a paralegal in San Francisco for the Transgender, Gender Variant and Intersex Legal Advocacy Program. She says she was repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted by male inmates and verbally abused by correctional officers where she served numerous sentences.

At the time, Jones didn't think about reporting such attacks to prison officials. She was afraid of retribution, afraid that she would be placed in a punishment cell. However, she told guards that she was transgender and feared for her safety. Other transgender women serving time with her expressed similar concerns. “We lived with it,” she says. “We put up with abuse.”

Jones is not alone.

Last year, the vast majority of transgender people in America were sent to prison based on the sex they were assigned at birth, according to an NBC News investigative report. This is despite compelling evidence that trans women are far more likely to be bullied and sexually assaulted than other prisoners. This is based on scientific research and surveys of transgender prisoners. This situation persists despite the Supreme Court's landmark decision 30 years ago in Farmer v. Brennan, finding that the deliberate failure to protect transgender prisoners from violence and abuse constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

Activists say little has changed since then. They are now pushing to change rules at the federal and state levels so that trans prisoners can decide for themselves where they are safest, or at least have their voice heard even if prison officials or independent boards make the final decision .

A 2007 University of California, Irvine study concluded that transgender people in prison were sexually assaulted 13 times more often than a random sample of male prisoners. Fifty-nine percent of transgender inmates reported sexual assault at a California correctional facility. If we take prisoners as a whole, then such victims of violence are only 4.4 percent.

“Transgender women behind bars are at risk, that's for sure,” says the new executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen. “No one should be put in danger while in a state correctional facility.”

Dagens Nyheter 08/03/2021 Foreign Media 03/25/2021 Breitbart 10/01/2019 In 1994, the Supreme Court ruled under the Eighth Amendment that failure to protect transgender people in custody is unconstitutional because it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. The case Farmer v Brennan was about the alleged prison rape of trans woman Dee Farmer. According to Farmer herself, a few days after her transfer to a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, she was raped by a fellow inmate. Before her imprisonment, she lived as a transgender woman. Farmer argued that this fact, coupled with the Terre Haute prison's "violent atmosphere and repeated attacks by inmates," meant that authorities had deliberately failed to protect her from violence by placing her there.

“He beat me constantly,” Farmer recalls. She speaks confidently, but emotionally, although more than 30 years have passed since then: “He started kicking me, and I saw a knife in his sneaker. It scared me so much that I stopped resisting. Then he threw me on the bed and raped me.”

“Prison officials' willful indifference to serious risks to prisoners violates the Eighth Amendment,” Judge David Souter wrote in the opinion. The jury ultimately found in favor of the defendants in the case, but Farmer prevailed in the Supreme Court.

Activists like Dee Farmer are still fighting for new requirements at the national and state levels to ensure that transgender, non-binary and intersex people are placed in facilities where they feel safest. This often means doing it in a way that is consistent with their gender identity.

"They shouldn't feel like they have to put up with violence, brutality, molestation and rape," Farmer told CNN. “We need to talk about what’s happening.” You have to make your voice heard."

“I never killed anyone or did anything like that”

To begin with, it should be said that transgender people are disproportionately affected by the criminal justice system. They are imprisoned much more often than representatives of other groups. According to the most recent national survey of transgender people conducted by NCTE in 2015, they are twice as likely to be incarcerated as other people. Black trans women are 10 times more likely to be incarcerated.

In many states, trans people can be legally arrested for simply being out in public. These are laws against loitering for suspicious purposes, and officially they are directed against prostitution. But in practice, they primarily target transgender women of color, regardless of whether they engage in prostitution or not.

“I was always checked on the street as a transgender woman,” says activist Bamby Salcedo. “It’s always been like that. I was always stopped simply for walking down the street to the store.” Salcedo says she was first incarcerated at age 19, shortly after she began her transition process. She spent the next 14 years in and out of prison. She was imprisoned for drugs and petty theft. According to Salcedo, she stole mainly cosmetics and food. “I’ve never killed anyone or done anything like that,” she says. — In the 80s there were no services for us. So we got everything we needed on the street, from our sisters. Participating in the street economy was the only way for us to survive and live.”

According to Salcedo, the “inhumane” and “disgraceful” treatment of trans women in prison begins immediately upon arrival. This is confirmed by Jones and many others. “We are ordered to undress in the presence of many men, both guards and prisoners,” says Salcedo. “Because of this, many of us automatically have a feeling of fear and a feeling ... well, that sexual harassment and frequent sexual attacks are normal.”

Jones also spent a lot of time on the streets as a teenager after her mother kicked her out of the house for coming out as gay. “The street has become my best friend. There I learned to be the person I am today,” she says. But soon life on the street gave way to life behind bars for Jones.

Violence in custody

Once in prison, transgender people are much more likely to experience violence than others. According to a national survey conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality, transgender prisoners are assaulted and abused by fellow inmates at nine times the rate of other prison inmates, and by prison staff at five times the rate.

Nearly a quarter of transgender prisoners have been physically assaulted by inmates and staff, according to a 2015 study. Salcedo recounts how a man raped her in prison with a razor blade to her throat. On other occasions, prisoners beat her, once with a thick stick.

“Every day I was at least verbally abused. Every single day,” she recalls. Former transgender women inmates say they are often mistreated by corrections staff. “They have a whole language for the trans community,” Jones recalls. “They call us terrible names, force us to undress in front of other prisoners to shame us. They came and vandalized our cells, taking away our cosmetics. We were not allowed to eat in the cafeteria if we were wearing any kind of makeup.”

Opponents of housing prisoners based on gender identity say men sometimes lie about being transgender because they want to be locked up with women they can molest. There is no evidence of such cases, but there is ample evidence that transgender women in men's prisons are sexually assaulted at many times the rate of other prisoners.

“We have no evidence to support this argument about the men making false statements. It just doesn’t exist,” says Heng-Lehtinen. “There are criteria to determine who is truly transgender... It’s not that simple, and it’s not enough to say you’re transgender.”

There is little data on how often trans women are sexually assaulted in women's prisons. This is explained by the fact that there are currently very few transgender women in women's correctional institutions. However, former trans inmates told CNN they would feel much more comfortable if they were searched by female guards, which is standard practice in women's prisons. And also that they would feel safer being in a cell with women.

Laws on paper

In 2003, President George W. Bush signed legislation to combat prison rape. The law required the Department of Justice to develop federal prison regulations to stop sexual assault and rape of prisoners. The Department of Justice published these rules in 2012, and they are still in effect today.

Among other things, the rules say that prison staff must consider assigning prisoners to cells on a case-by-case basis and “not simply based on who has what genitalia.” The rules also require that the prisoner's views on his or her safety be taken into account.

But activists say these rules do not apply in practice, as transgender women are rarely sent to women's correctional facilities, even though they request it. “We hear from many trans women that prison officials ask them if they have a penis when they receive them,” says Richard Saenz, a senior attorney at Lambda Legal. “So they decide where to place them.”

Saenz said his firm receives hundreds of letters and phone calls each year from incarcerated trans people who report being attacked, mistreated and feeling under constant threat as a trans person. “The anti-rape law in prisons is not being applied consistently,” says Heng-Lehtinen. “We need clearer and more detailed rules about how to house prisoners, and these rules need to be reviewed periodically because circumstances change.” It is best that the issue of tranny placement be reconsidered every year. And if not, then you need to return to it every five years.”

The Department of Justice told CNN that the Federal Bureau of Prisons meets and enforces the standards of the Prison Rape Anti-Prison Act, recognizing the importance of making inmates feel safe. Under current regulations, a transgender or intersex person's views on his or her safety must be strictly taken into account when the Federal Bureau of Prisons makes decisions about inmate housing and plans.

According to Heng-Lehtinen, problems sometimes arise due to inconsistency of rules at the federal and state levels, and those who ignore the safety of transgender people take advantage of this.

Dagens Nyheter 08/03/2021 Foreign Media 03/25/2021 Breitbart 10/01/2019 In particular, confusion exists in the transgender safety guidance, which the Trump administration revised in 2021, eliminating protections for transgender people in custody. There was a rule stating that when housing prisoners, the administration must first take into account biological sex. But there was no definition of the term “biological sex,” which caused confusion because there is no standard set of medical criteria for this.

While the Biden administration says it wants to improve the quality of life for transgender Americans, it has yet to revise Trump-era rules or produce new guidance on transgender safety.

“We look forward to the Biden administration updating and amending the transgender safety guidance,” says Heng-Lehtinen. NCTE is working closely with both the administration and the Department of Justice to make such changes, he said.

Salcedo is now the CEO and president of the Los Angeles-based [email protected] Coalition, which works to improve conditions for transgender people in America. Revising the manual is a good start, but it's not enough, she said.

“It is more important to understand the reasons why transgender people end up in prison. They make us criminals because of who we are. Transgender people need to get the resources and support they need and not just survive, which is why so many of us end up behind bars.”

State Actions

Some states are drafting laws requiring correctional officials to place transgender people where they feel safest. In California, SB 132 was developed, which Governor Gavin Newsom approved in September 2021 and went into effect on January 1. The law requires the placement of “transgender, non-binary and intersex people in single-sex correctional facilities according to their preferences.” It also states that all correctional staff must use the correct gender pronouns when addressing inmates and conduct body searches in accordance with their gender identity.

However, activists say the law is being implemented unevenly.

“After being released, I often hear stories about attacks on trans people, how guards strip them naked during searches,” says Jones. She claims this is because transgender women are still imprisoned in men's prisons staffed by men. “Even though SB 132 is now law, it is being implemented incorrectly. They must be held accountable for this. People are still being attacked."

California public interest attorney Jennifer Orthwein, who befriended Jones, filed a lawsuit on June 11 on behalf of incarcerated transgender woman Syiaah Skylit, as well as on behalf of all incarcerated transgender Californians in similar situations.

“When people began asserting their rights under SB 132, they were met with pushback, alarming delays, attempts to control their gender identity, dangerous rumors and misinformation, and systematic public disclosure of the gender identity of transgender, nonbinary people. and intersex people,” Orthwein told CNN.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation told CNN: “The agency is committed to providing safe, humane, rehabilitative and secure environments for all transgender, non-binary and intersex people admitted to state correctional facilities. All requests for cell-to-cell transfers are reviewed by an interdisciplinary committee consisting of department management, professional psychologists, psychiatrists and managers who monitor the implementation of the Anti-Rape Law. We have also developed and are implementing a specialized training program for staff to ensure they are familiar with our department's laws and policies and have the necessary knowledge and skills to interact with transgender inmates.”

According to court documents, “Defendants and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation repeatedly tortured, sexually assaulted, threatened, and pepper sprayed 30-year-old Black transgender woman Siya Skylit, the plaintiff.” Orthwein says Skylit tried to commit suicide and went on a hunger strike.

On the day the lawsuit was filed and CNN asked for comment, Skylit was told her request for a transfer had been granted and she would be transferred in the coming days.

“The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation cannot comment on pending litigation or specific inmate transfer requests. “But again, we take the health and safety of those entrusted to us very seriously and ensure that every request is carefully considered,” the department said.

Of the 1,277 inmates who identify as transgender, non-binary or intersex, 272 have requested transfers based on their gender identity, it said. 265 applications came from people in men's prisons who asked to be transferred to women's prisons, and seven from people from women's prisons who asked to be transferred to men's prisons.

Thirty-three requests have been granted and 19 inmates have already been transferred, the California department said. It added that the remaining 239 applications were “being reviewed.”

Lawsuits and administrative efforts have been made to improve conditions for transgender, intersex and non-binary people, but human rights activists say lives remain at risk. “We need to act quickly,” says Heng-Lehtinen. “These transgender prisoners are suffering.”

“People need to understand that we are under no illusion that this law will make prisons safe for everyone, including gender-variant people,” Orthwein says. “We just hope that this legislation will give transgender, non-binary and intersex people the opportunity to survive prison with as much mental and physical health as possible.”

InoSMI materials contain assessments exclusively of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the InoSMI editorial staff.

How to avoid violence in a women's prison

Each correctional institution has its own rules. Both representatives of the administration and the prisoners themselves can abuse prisoners. However, there is a general list of recommendations to make the process of staying in prison easier:

You should not argue with the prison administration. Correctional officers can provoke prisoners and deliberately create conflicts. You should not give in to provocations.
It is advisable to find a company. Surviving in prison alone is difficult. It is better to try to establish friendly relations with one of the cellmates.
You should not shirk from work. They don't like lazy people in the zone.
The programs must be shared with fellow inmates. Generosity is encouraged in prison. It is customary among prisoners to share.
You can't show weakness of character. The weak in spirit are not welcome in either men's or women's prisons.
You should not cooperate with the administration. If the inmates become aware of this, they may severely beat the informant. Moreover, some women fight no worse than men, showing excessive cruelty.

Thus, even ordinary prison conditions can become real torture for an unprepared person. Moreover, in some correctional institutions, life for prisoners can be truly hellish.

Loss of social skills and fear of will

People in the colony, according to experts, lose social skills within three to four years. The world is changing very quickly, so it is more difficult for a woman sentenced to even a short term to adapt to freedom. She becomes an easy prey for scammers because she is poorly oriented in the new world.

“I am working with a woman who was released after eight years in prison. It’s unusual for her that now a lot can be done via the Internet. For example, to get a certificate, you just need to go to the State Services website. Now she is learning to work with online services that did not exist a few years ago. Of course, this is stressful for her,” says Elena Efimova, a social worker at the interregional public organization Doctors for Children. This leads to another problem - fear of will. She regularly hears from those who have been released: “It would be better if they returned me back. It was easier in the colony.” Recently, Efimova invited her ward to get a job at a shelter, since she did not have her own place to live, but she refused - she did not want to live according to the regime and rules again. “This woman has just been released. After a month or two, she may realize that she does not know how to handle the freedom that has fallen on her.”