No Pride In Prisons Plans Rally Condemning Rape of Trans Woman in Serco-Run Prison

Queer and trans activist group No Pride In Prisons are planning a rally at Auckland’s Aotea Square at 12pm on Saturday 10th October.

The rally is planned in light of the alleged beating and rape of a transgender woman in Auckland South Corrections Facility, a men’s prison.

‘She was taken out of protective segregation on Wednesday and moved back into the general population where she was assaulted by seven men and then raped,’ says No Pride In Prisons spokeswoman Emilie Rākete.

‘Prisons aren’t safe for anybody, but especially not for trans women. The fact that this woman was in a men’s prison to begin with goes to show how little regard Corrections has for the safety of incarcerated people, especially if they’re trans.’

‘The Department of Corrections knows that she is a trans woman, as they are administering her hormone treatment. But she is being kept in a men’s facility anyway.’

The group will be making two demands at the rally.

‘We will be demanding firstly that Serco and the Department of Corrections release public statements, taking responsibility for what happened last week. This would not have happened if not for the placement policies of Corrections, and for both Serco and Corrections’ thorough mismanagement of the facility,’ says Rākete.

‘Secondly, we will be demanding that the Department of Corrections reform their policy regarding the initial placement of transgender people in men’s or women’s facilities. We demand that the Department of Corrections publicly demonstrates its efforts in doing so.’

Though the prison concerned in this case is run by a partnership between the Department of Corrections and private company Serco, No Pride in Prisons stresses that this is not a privatisation issue. According to Rākete, ‘the government cannot deflect blame for these incidents onto Serco.’

‘Corrections policies maintain the prison system at the cost of human safety.’

Click here for a link to the rally’s Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/470315266474767/

ENDS

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