Thu 27 Aug 2015 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
UPDATED: Corrections has approved the transfer of trans woman Jade Follett to a women's prison - and she was moved this afternoon. No Pride in Prisons began a hunger strike this morning Follett was jailed for stabbing a man who had stalked and threatened her, and has been serving her time in Rimutaka Prison. Her case sparked protest action from the group No Pride in Prisons, which began a hunger strike on Auckland's Karangahape Rd this morning. It was planning to hold daily vigils until she was moved. This afternoon Corrections has released a statement saying it has approved the transfer request by a transgender prisoner. "Since the Transgender and Intersex Prisoner policy took effect in February 2014 the Chief Executive has approved the transfer of five transgender prisoners, including this recent request," says Rimutaka Prison Director Chris Burns. "Corrections has a duty of care to all prisoners. We are very much aware and sympathetic to the particular needs of transgender prisoners including the issues surrounding their placement and safety." Follett told No Pride in Prisons she asked to be moved to a women's prison two months ago. Corrections earlier said it received a request from a trans prisoner to be moved just this weekend and was treating it with urgency. No Pride in Prisons has confirmed Follett's transfer has happened and is ending its hunger strike. "Jade shouldn't have been placed in a men's prison in the first place," spokesperson Jennifer Shields says. "That happens to have every trans prisoner unless they have their birth certificate changed - they're immediately placed in the wrong prison." The group is still calling for more transparency from Corrections. Its OIA requests earlier this year for information given to media this afternoon, about the number of transgender prisoners moved to facility's matching their gender identity this year, were denied. "This is good news, but it's just the start," Shields says. "We want Corrections to answer questions about how many trans prisoners there are, where they're being kept, what their health and safety is like." No Pride in Prisons says the response to its protest on K' Rd today has been really positive. "Overwhelmingly people have been hugely supportive. They have come up and either already known what was happening or asked questions and immediately gotten angry. We've literally only had one person who has been not great about it."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 27th August 2015 - 2:26pm