The Irish Penal Reform Trust has today launched a report highlighting the experience of LGBT prisoners in Ireland.

Out on the Inside: The Rights, Experiences and Needs of LGBT People in Prison, is the first report of its kind and delves into the lives of LGBT prisoners and the discrimination they face behind bars.

“Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people have long been a ‘hidden’ or overlooked population in prisons, both in Ireland and internationally…[they] form a doubly marginal population, falling outside of the ‘mainstream’ of LGBT community organising and support services, and hidden and largely overlooked in terms of current prison policy,” reads the report, written by Dr Nicola Carr, Dr Siobhán McAlister and Dr Tanya Serisier.

“Our research indicates that both the LGBT sector and the Irish Prison Service are increasingly aware of the existence and potential needs of this population.”

As a part of the research, authors interviewed seven prisoners who identify as LGBT. Three men, and four women – one of whom is trans.

“I put up with two years of horrific abuse while I was locked in my cell… this guy … he was outside… during the day all day …and while I was locked in my cell every day he was outside my door, ‘you dirty steamer, you filthy faggot’ and ‘you take it up the ass’, all of this stuff,” said Patrick, who identifies as gay.

Damien, who is bi, said, “I’d be down playing snooker and people would be like, do you like playing with balls? … But like an awful lot of shit you come against, but I, I knew how to play, play it off like, I just never listened to them…”

While lesbian and bisexual women still face discrimination, the abuse women face tends to less directly threatening. Evelyn said,”Some people wouldn’t be nice. Well they never say anything to my face or my girlfriend’s face, but I hear them like being bad to some people over it. It’s not nice like at all, but not, to me personally no, people weren’t like nasty … but I’ve seen it happening to other people.”

Rachel, a transgender woman, spoke of her constant fear of being violently attacked by other inmates. “I somehow had managed to convey a certain subliminal message to most of the people in the prison that like yeah I might look different and I might be this and that, but I’ll cut your f**king throat in two minutes flat …but it’s a really harsh way to have to live your life … You were on tenterhooks in prison, you have to have eyes in the back of your head. You don’t know where the blade is coming from, you don’t know who’s saying what, and you don’t know whose toes you’ve stepped on.”

The authors of the report have included evidence-based recommendations for the Irish Prison Service (IPS):

• Homophobic and transphobic bullying and harassment amongst prisoners must be tackled through a combination of information provision, staff training, and clear sanctions for breach of policy, where appropriate

 

• Single-cell accommodation should be the norm for all prisoners across the prison estate, particularly for prisoners identifying as LGBT who may feel vulnerable in the prison environment.

 

• Homophobic and transphobic bullying and harassment amongst prisoners must be tackled through a combination of information provision, staff training, and clear sanctions for breach of policy, where appropriate.

 

• The Prison Rules 2007 should be amended to include the terms ‘homophobic’ and ‘transphobic’ as behaviour and language which is prohibited.

 

• Current human rights training for prison staff should be extended to address more specifically the needs, rights and experiences of LGBT prisoners.

Read the full report here.