While in in the cells at Sydney Police Centre she was happy, reported no signs of suicidal tendencies, was smiling, happy and talking. Then she was moved to a male prison and two days later was found hanged in her cell. Yet this couldn’t have been prevented. Really? You don’t think that treating her as a woman or making other arrangements for her apart from going to a men’s prison could have helped? Obviously not. And it cost her her life.
Please note: this is not a thread for re-hashing attitudes about transgender people. Any such comments will be harshly dealt with by the nearest available mod.
Categories: crisis, gender & feminism, law & order, social justice
DUFC #69 
Signal Boost: women being prosecuted for retracting domestic violence allegations 
Hoyden About Town 
So she was placed in a male prison (and assessments did not take place *there*) AND she used the call button for undetermined reasons, but nothing could have been done? And obviously the time she’d previously spent in a male prison meant that nothing had changed in her life since then. What an astounding conclusion.
What’s the sentence for a serious drug offence? Make it unpleasant enough for a transgender person and it’s a death sentence apparently.
Absolutely tragic. Totally unnecessary.
I have nothing constructive to say other than to add my sadness and sorrow to yet another preventable death.
This is appalling – though I’m quite impressed that The Australian got the pronouns right. It was clearly preventable and is yet another death of a trans person due to systemic issues.
Ack. 😦
The Australian did a better job reporting than the SMH, which took great pains to use her birth name and refer to her as a “pre-operative male-to-female transsexual”.
Seconded, absolutely tragic and unnecessary.
http://www.watoday.com.au/nsw/why-did-our-sister-die-in-a-mens-jail-20110409-1d8fe.html
ugh, that is so awful.
Sorry for no useful notice – I found out that there is a rally today at noon at Glebe Coroner’s Court, 44-46 Parramatta Rd, Glebe, demanding a new enquiry into Veronica Baxter’s death. http://www.caah.org.au/justice-for-veronica-baxter#pressreleaseapril8
I will head in for it.
Thanks for the heads-up, Robyn. I’ve got a previous engagement, dammit.