Demanding that a transgender woman be taken out of 23-hour solitary confinement, members of the No Pride In Prisons activist group have chained themselves inside a Hamilton Corrections Department office. The group says the woman is suicidal, being subjected to constant sexual harassment and her mental state is declining. Corrections says she has been put in solitary confinement for her own safety. And they say she is facing charges relating to speaking with a reporter about her situation. No Pride In Prisons first came to public notice when they burst through crowd barricades and interrupted the 2015 Auckland Pride Parade, protesting the presence of of glbti and glbti-friendly Corrections staff in the parade. They conducted a sit-down protest on the 2016 parade route. They object to the way transgender prisoners are treated in prison and, amongst other beliefs, say the prison system and police force should be done away with. The protesters say they will not be leaving until the woman is removed from solitary confinement. Corrections are not allowing the public into the Hamilton office.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 22nd November 2016 - 11:37am