Arts of Resistance Tags
Joie's Research
It has been well established that denying people who are in prison the right to necessary health care is unconstitutional, and it has also been sufficiently established that hormone therapy, and other treatments/surgeries fall under the category of necessary health care for trans individuals. However, conventional wisdom dictates that more often not, health care for trans individuals in prison is incredibly lacking. There are also a myriad of social factors that contribute to trans individuals becoming incarcerated in disproportionate numbers compared to cis individuals.
According to the 2011 survey project, “Injustice at Every Turn”, trans individuals experience unemployment, employment discrimination, sexual harassment and abuse, physical and verbal violence, and inadequate health care at incredibly disproportionate intervals compared to cis individuals. These factors all contribute to the oppressive social structure that is breeding an increased trans population in prisons.
While there is some research done on the health care available to trans individuals in prisons, (for example, court transcripts that outline court appeals for adequate healthcare implementation, ACLU actions that work towards requiring trans-specific health care to be available in prisons, and varied journal articles on the morality and ethics of denying trans individuals trans-specific health care in prison) there is little to no research on the niche topic of neonatal health care for trans men and reproductive health care for trans-individuals in prison.
I am hoping to start gathering more information on this topic through different channels that both colleagues and myself are affiliated with as a means to glean whether or not this is really a viable topic to research. However, in the meantime I will broaden my research to encompass the accessibility and adequacy of reproductive health care for all incarcerated individuals, while focusing primarily on neonatal access.
As for a cumulative end to this project, I am hoping to incorporate sculpture and clay into aspects of the final project, as well as possibly poetry and prose. I have not yet decided how this art and research will be combined but as I continue my research, narrow down my focus and work on what is feasible, I should have a better idea of what I want.