Sun 5 Mar 2017 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
The Department of Corrections say it is disappointed that its application to march in the Wellington Pride Parade has been declined. The Department of Corrections marching in the 2015 Auckland Pride Parade. "We are disappointed with the Wellington Pride Board’s decision about our Rainbow staff marching in the upcoming Wellington Pride Parade,” says a spokesperson for Corrections. “However, we appreciated the opportunity to meet with the Board this week to talk about the work we are doing to improve our care of transgender prisoners, and for their careful consideration of our application.” The spokesperson says while the Department is disappointed with the decision, they “fully support the Board’s need to ensure that the Parade is a safe event that is free from disruption.” The Wellington Pride Festival committee said that the decision to decline the application was made because Corrections still are yet to fully implement the extensive changes that are currently being undertaken regarding trans prisoner safety, dignity, privacy and right to maintain their gender identity while in the care of the Department. The committee stated that “public consultation and staff training are still needed before these changes are fully implemented.” Corrections says “Our Transgender Action Plan is a large piece of work which has re-considered our policies, practices and procedures relating to the management and treatment of individuals who identify as trans in our care. While trans prisoner numbers are very small (approximately 12-20 prisoners of a population of 10,000), we recognise the additional challenges transgender people in New Zealand are likely to have faced prior to coming into the criminal justice system, and that the prison environment has potential to compound some of those challenges.” The spokesperson says that The Transgender Action Plan will require prison staff to put a safe management plan in place for each trans prisoner, which will be completed collaboratively with the prisoner, and reviewed at regular intervals. “We also contracted a member of the trans community to interview trans prisoners and assist in the development of support systems for trans prisoners,” they say. “Over the last few months we have been conducting wide internal consultation and communication with our Prison Directors and other senior staff about the plan. To bring our 3000 prison staff with us on this journey, we are developing a training package alongside refining the details of our new approach. The component will provide our staff with education and understanding about trans people and their specific needs. This training will take time to deliver to our staff, and we need to commence delivery of the training before implementing our new guidelines. We are also talking with a wide range of LGBTI groups along with other relevant agencies about the plan.” The spokesperson says Corrections is looking forward to “working with the Board in future to ensure that the LGBTIQ community have access to good information about our Transgender Action Plan and our wider work.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Sunday, 5th March 2017 - 6:10pm