Incorporating the

Prison Industrial Complex and the Experiences of

Queer Youth of Color into our Anti-Violence Work

Broadway Youth Center

Objectives

Explore the ways in which gender is policed and criminalized in the U.S.

Envision an anti-violence movement that centers trans youth of color

Discuss historical connections between the criminalization of gender non-conforming folks of color and the the PIC

Identify the barriers that exist for trans youth of color attempting to access institutions and systems

Discuss practical strategies for integrating these conversations around the PIC into our individual, group, and activist/organizing work with youth and adult allies

Defining the Prison Industrial Complex

Timeline of the PIC

History of the PIC

Quality of Life Policing=policing gender of poor people of color increasing

Manifests in the criminalization of the following: Loitering Panhandling Squatting/Trespassing Petty theft Solicitation Turnstile Jumping/CTA “crimes” Gender Non-Conforming/Trans folks Drug Sales and Posession

Excerpt from Keynote Address at Critical Resistance Gathering in New Orleans in December, 2006 as a part of theAmnesty for Prisoners of Katrina: Weekend of Reconciliation and Respect for Human Rights

Film Excerpt from Democracy Now

Angela Davis, writer, activist, lecturer, professor

The certainty of racism & incarceration

Barriers for Trans Youth of Color How is gender policed in this society? Trans youth are disenfranchised by various

systems and institutions and therefore disproportionately impacted by PIC: DCFS, DHS, DV/SA agencies/shelters, schools,

hospitals/medical/mental health, Harry Benjamin/trans standards of care, housing, homeless services, faith-based services, anti-sex work agencies, legal, police, incarceration, work/employment (specifically entry level, hourly wage jobs), post-secondary education

Institutional violence means lack of basic survival needs

Preventing someone from accessing basic needs is violence, creates public health crisis.

Scope of the Impact on Trans Youth 1 in five, or 20% of transgender youth are or

have been homeless (Mottet, L.L. & Lifson, A.R. (2004).

In a GLSEN report, 90% of trans youth report feeling unsafe in schools, as compared to 46% of gay or bisexual males and 41% of lesbian and bisexual female students.

In the recent NGLTF report entitled LGBT Youth: An Epidemic of Homelessness, they report that:

71% of trans-identified youth they interviewed had been sexually assaulted or raped

83% had suicidal thoughts, and 54% had attempted suicide 46% had engaged in sex work

Murder rate of Trans people is 16 times the national average More than 1 murder a month

How are Trans Youth Impacted by the PIC? “Transgender women are more likely to end up in

prison than virtually anyone else. The oft-quoted statistic about African American men -- that one in four has a history of incarceration -- is dwarfed by the available stats on people who are male-to-female, or MTF. A San Francisco Department of Public Health survey conducted in 1997 found that almost two thirds of MTF respondents had been incarcerated. More than 30 percent had spent some time behind bars during the preceding 12 months. “ (http://womenandprison.org/violence/woodward.html)

Trauma completely erased. Q/TYOC conditioned to expect it as part of their daily existence.

How are Trans Youth Impacted by the PIC? Trans youth of color are disproportionately

impacted by quality of life policing. The criminalization and incarceration of

trans people is normalized, minimized, and silenced.

And, as anti-violence movement co-opted by the state, with increasing focus on utilization of criminal legal system in response to IPV and hate crime violence, trans youth of color face intense barriers to safety.

The Cost of Criminalization

Dehumanizes, disenfranchises a generation of queer and trans youth of color.

Re-inscribes gender binary for reasons of necessity and safety. Negative impact on trans communities,

specifically in the ways that genderqueerness becomes white and class privilege.

The policing of queer and trans youth of color is often replicated in youth service agencies without PIC/anti-violence/harm reduction framework.

Implications for Trans Youth Experiences of IPV When we look at trans youth of color

experiences of IPV through a lens informed by the PIC and the broader systems of transphobia, racism, and classism, we recognize: Trans folks have fewer ways to get safe Disproportionate death, murders, sexual violence Dehumanization impacts people’s ability to

advocate or believe in their right to exist with rights Role of silence and normalization of violence (no

one is organizing statewide campaigns to end violence against trans women of color)

Societal investment in gender binaries differentially impacts trans women of color (experiences of femininity tied with violence/power)

Why are these conversations lacking in anti-prison/abolition conversations

Transphobia.

Reimagining Our Work

Frameworks: Harm Reduction

principles of harm reduction Anti-Oppression

Connecting various forms of oppression and violence that youth experience as well as the relationships (inherent power dynamics) that adult allies/social service providers/white people hold

Trauma Informed… Necessity of simultaneity

Increasing analysis of trans issues in anti-prison activism, having analysis of trans issues inform our work with young activists.

Individual Work

Relational Work is KEY. The integration of individual, traumatic

experiences within larger systems of oppression and the spectrum of violence leads to healing, identity integration.

Working through issues of internalized oppression and experiences with state/institutional violence, for example, is therapeutic, normalizing, …transformative, reduces isolation, break silence, allows individuals to build/have language to describe experiences, contextualize experiences

Anti-violence work is…

Group Work

Fostering the leadership of trans youth of color (and facilitators)

Incorporating this framework into more traditional workshops/issues. Street Law Workshops Anti-Oppression Workshops Harm Reduction Education

Recognizing the ways that becoming politicized can be really triggering and initially destructive for survivors of trauma.

Self care. Project based work, w/ incentives. Really thinking about what youth are at the table –

rejecting the idea that “there are no trans youth in this community” and interrogating why trans youth are not coming to group.

Youth Activism and Organizing Increasing our analysis of trans issues

and gender policing in our prison abolition work

Also recognize that we must commit to increasing access to basic survival needs in our organizing spaces to make them accessible to trans folk.