The Trump administration wants to remove protections for trans people who have been raped in prison, according to a leaked memo.

Content Warning: This article mentions sexual assault and rape, reader discretion is advised.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) signalled its intention to remove standards in the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) which specifically protect LGBTQ+ people from rape and sexual assault.

Administration officials said in a leaked memo from Tuesday (2 December) that it believes the standards, brought in by Barack Obama in 2012, contradict US president Donald Trump’s Jan 20 executive order targeting incarcerated trans people.

The proposed changes, reported by Prism earlier this week, would rescind rules such as mandated screenings to determine whether trans or intersex prisoners are at risk of sexual abuse in a facility.

Incident reviews would also be targeted, preventing investigators from taking into account whether cases were motivated by the victim’s gender identity.

The order would apply to facilities including adult prisons, lock-ups, community confinement facilities, and even juvenile facilities.

Tammie Gregg, principal deputy director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, wrote in the directive that the changes would reflect the Trump administration’s position that there are only two sexes, male and female.

According to the Williams Institute, trans people are over four times more likely than cisgender people to be the victims of a violent crime including rape or sexual assault.

A CBS News survey further states that trans inmates are far more likely to be the victims of sexual assault than cisgender prisoners. 35 per cent of transgender inmates held in US prisons have been sexually assaulted at least once during the first year of their sentence.

Just Detention International (JDI), a prisoner rights advocacy organisation, said the move would lead to “increased chaos and violence” inside prisons and jails posing significant dangers to both staff and incarcerated people.

“The Department of Justice would rather see incarcerated people, including children, be sexually abused than allow trans people to express their gender identity,” JDI executive director Linda McFarlane said.

The proposed changes come as the Trump administration has continually attempted to enforce an executive order banning gender-affirming care for trans prisoners.

In June, a US judge blocked Trump’s executive order banning healthcare for over 2,000 incarcerated trans people, ordering the US Bureau of Prisons to continue providing care.

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