Queer Avengers: "Justice" system perpetrates transphobic injustice
The Queer Avengers are concerned about the recent sentencing of a trans* woman to a male prison. She has been sentenced to 2 years and 1 month after pleading guilty to a charge of wounding with intent to injure on January 17 this year, despite a request for home detention.

“This issue is indicative of transphobia in New Zealand” says Queer Avenger, Sara Fraser.

Fraser continues that the lack of engagement with trans* issues by Judith Collins, and the government as a whole, is unacceptable. "This government has made repeatedly clear that social need is low on their priority list," Fraser adds. "They will only budge on trans* and other rights if we push them."
“How are trans* people in New Zealand to feel safe when MP’s refuse to engage with the wider issue?” Queer Avengers members want to know.

Fraser has a direct question for Minister for Justice, Judith Collins, who has refused to comment: “Are you prepared to have blood on your hands if this woman loses her life as a result of abuse and stress, from being imprisoned in a male prison?”

Queer Avengers state this is a result of ongoing dismissal of trans* rights in New Zealand; it is not the first time this problem has arisen and it needs to be addressed urgently to prevent further loss of life in our trans* communities.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

The ministry says the business has failed to recruit and retain quality staff – and says the kaimahi (caregivers) that have been employed are seriously unsuitable for the job, lacking basic knowledge. But Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau doesn’t get all the blame. The report says there’s a significant gap under disability laws to ensure there’s oversight by qualified clinical professionals. More>>