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Background: Incarcerated trans women experience significant victimization, mistreatment, barriers to gender-affirming care, and human rights violations, conferring high risk for trauma, psychological distress, self-harm, and suicide. Across the globe, most carceral settings are segregated by sex assigned at birth and governed by housing policies that restrict gender expression—elevating ‘safety and security’ above the housing preferences of incarcerated people. Aim/methods: Drawing upon the lived experiences of 24 formerly incarcerated trans women in Australia and the United States and employing Elizabeth Freeman’s notion of chrononormativity, Rae Rosenberg’s concept of heteronormative time, and Kadji Amin’s use of queer temporality, this paper explores trans women’s carceral housing preferences and contextual experiences, including how housing preferences challenge governing chrononormative and reformist carceral housing systems. Findings: Participants freely discussed their perspectives regarding housing options which through thematic analysis generated four options for housing: 1) men’s carceral settings; 2) women’s carceral settings; 3) trans- and gay-specific housing blocks; and 4) being housed in protective custody or other settings. There appeared to be a relationship between the number of times the person had been incarcerated, the duration of their incarceration, and where they preferred to be housed. Conclusions: This analysis contributes to richer understandings regarding trans women’s experiences while incarcerated. This paper also informs the complexities and nuances surrounding housing preferences from the perspectives of trans women themselves and considers possible opportunities to enhance human rights, health and wellbeing when engaging in transformative approaches to incarceration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Trans people are incarcerated at disproportionately high rates relative to cisgender people and are at increased risk of negative experiences while incarcerated, including poor mental health, violence, sexual abuse, dismissal of self-identity, including poor access to healthcare. Aims: This scoping review sought to identify what is known about the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of correctional staff toward incarcerated trans people within the adult and juvenile justice systems. Method: This scoping review was conducted in accordance with the five-stage iterative process developed by Arksey and O’Malley (2005), utilizing the PRISMA guidelines and checklist for scoping reviews and included an appraisal of included papers. A range of databases and grey literature was included. Literature was assessed against predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria, with included studies written in English, online full text availability, and reported data relevant to the research question. Results: Seven studies were included with four using qualitative methodologies, one quantitative, and two studies employing a mixed methods approach. These studies provided insights into the systemic lack of knowledge and experience of correctional staff working with trans people, including staff reporting trans issues are not a carceral concern, and carceral settings not offering trans-affirming training to their staff. Within a reform-based approach these findings could be interpreted as passive ignorance and oversights stressing the importance of organizational policies and leadership needing to set standards for promoting the health and wellbeing of incarcerated trans persons. Conclusions: From a transformational lens, findings from this study highlight the urgent need to address the underlying structural, systemic, and organizational factors that impact upon the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors staff have and hold in correctional, and other health and community settings to meaningfully and sustainably improve health, wellbeing, and gender-affirming treatment and care for trans communities, including make possible alternative methods of accountability for those who do harms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trans women incarcerated throughout the world have been described as "vulnerable populations" due to significant victimization, mistreatment, lack of gender-affirming care, and human rights violations, which confers greater risk of trauma, self-harm, and suicide compared with the general incarcerated population. Most incarceration settings around the world are segregated by the person's sex characteristics (i.e., male or female) and governed by strong cis and gender normative paradigms. This analysis seeks to better understand and appreciate how the "instructions" and the "authorities" that regulate trans women's corporeal representation, housing options and sense of self-determination implicate and affect their agency and actions in handling intimacies related to their personal life. Drawing upon lived incarcerated experiences of 24 trans women in Australia and the United States, and employing Ken Plummer's notion of intimate citizenship, this analysis explores how trans women navigate choices and ways "to do" gender, identities, bodies, emotions, desires and relationships while incarcerated in men's prisons and governed by cis and gender normative paradigms. This critical analysis contributes to understanding how incarcerated trans women through grit, resilience, and ingenuity still navigate ways to embody, express and enact their intimate citizenship in innovative and unique ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented on approaches of supporting and upholding the rights and health of incarcerated transgender people. Topics discussed include approach to ensure the wellbeing of transgender individuals incarcerated across global contexts; rights and health of incarcerated transgender people; and promote health and wellbeing for diverse communities, including incarcerated people.