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I was flogged and bashed to the point where I knew I had to do it in order to survive, but survival was basically for other prisoners’ pleasure... It was hell on earth, it was as if I died and this was my punishment—Inmate
A transgender woman has allegedly been raped and abused more than 2,000 times in an all-male prison in Australia, reports said.
Describing the “hell on earth”, the woman, known only by her pseudonym, Mary, her experiences were so horrific that she would “rather die than go to prison ever again”.
“You are basically set upon with conversations about being protected in return for sex,” Mary told news.com.au.
“They are either trying to manipulate you or threaten you into some sort of sexual contact and then, once you perform the requested threat of sex, you are then an easy target as others want their share of sex with you, which is more like rape than consensual sex.
“It makes you feel sick but you have no way of defending yourself.”
Mary spent about four years in prison for stealing a car. She was was transferred a number of times, but said Boggo Road was the most violent, and where she suffered the most abuse.
After a failed escape, Mary was designated as ‘high-risk’, meaning she had to serve her sentence as a maximum security prisoner alongside the most violent inmates.
“I was flogged and bashed to the point where I knew I had to do it in order to survive, but survival was basically for other prisoners’ pleasure,” she said.
“It was hell on earth, it was as if I died and this was my punishment.”
During her time behind bars, Mary was also denied her hormone treatments, meaning she started to regrow facial hair within a week, reports said.
“It was like my identity was taken away from me,” she said.
“People must think if you go to a female prison, you’re going to rape women and you’re not — it doesn’t make any sense,” Mary said.
“I’d rather die than go to prison ever again in my whole life.
“I look like a woman and I think if a transgender person is genuine and they are living as the opposite sex, then they should be housed in a female prison, even if you’re in a wing on your own.
“You shouldn’t be subjected to sexual assault. You are serving a punishment for an error you made in your life.”
The pain of what Mary suffered while locked up has stayed with her since she left prison, and as a result she has not been able to build a 'normal life'.
“I don’t have a relationship and I don’t trust men and never will ever again in my life — I’ve not had a relationship since prison,” she said.
