At-risk prisoners 'protected'
By LYN HUMPHREYS
lyn.humphreys@tnl.co.nz
Taranaki Daily News
Friday, 28 March 2008
Transgender prisoners at risk within prison walls are segregated for
their own protection, said the Corrections Department yesterday.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/dailynews/4454214a6002.html
The department was commenting on concerns raised in the New Plymouth
District Court when a transgender offender, Justin Morgan-Peka, was
sentenced to jail after robbing a taxi driver, spraying deodorant
into his eyes.
Lawyer Turitea Bolstad asked the judge to ensure Morgan-Peka's
"significant issues" were dealt with.
Yesterday the Correction Department's service support manager, Karen
Urwin said that it did not comment on individual prisoners.
However she said prisoners were given a health assessment to decide
if they were at risk from other prisoners or themselves.
"Prisoners that are deemed to be at risk are segregated from the
mainstream prison population for their protection."
Corrections was committed to safely, securely and humanely housing
prisoners, she said.
Ms Urwin was unable to say how many such prisoners were in the
country's jails as they were either classed as male or female.
She said the department has a clear policy on transgender prisoners.
For instance, any prisoners on hormone treatment were able to
maintain this at their own cost, unless covered by a district health
board, but they were not able to pursue gender reassignment surgery
while in prison.
Transgender prisoners are managed according to their sex and, if
this is unclear, medical opinion is sought. Once their gender is
determined, they are managed the same as any other prisoner.
All prisoners are assessed when they enter a prison by trained
sentence planners who creates an individualised sentence plan for
each prisoner based on all the available documentation they have.