The U.S. Department of Justice plans to rewrite its policy on protection for transgender prisoners, a move directed by President Donald Trump.
In 2003, Congress passed the Prison Rape Elimination Act. The DOJ said it will revise the law because its language clashes with a Trump mandate to “recognize two sexes, male and female,” according to Bloomberg News. “[The DOJ] directed auditors to pause portions of their facility reviews that pertain to treatment and conditions for ‘transgender, intersex, and gender nonconforming inmates.’”
“[PREA] requires the Bureau of Justice Statistics to carry out, for each calendar year, a comprehensive statistical review and analysis of the incidence and effects of prison rape,” the DOJ reported. “The act requires the Attorney General to submit — no later than June 30 of each year — a report that lists institutions in the sample and ranks them according to incidence of prison rape.”
In December, DOJ principal Deputy Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Tammie Gregg said, “Until these updates are finalized, and further guidance is provided, effective immediately, applicable federal and non-federal correctional facilities shall not be held to” obey sections of the law that provides protections for prisoners in conflict with Trump’s mandate.
Advocates for transgender people and prisoners stated, “Altering standards in the Prison Rape Elimination Act will make detention facilities more dangerous,” Bloomberg News reported.
Under current PREA directives, and California law, the state’s Office of the Inspector General issues reviews of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s policies, practices, and procedures.
In August 2025, the OIG sent a special report to the CDCR secretary. “In this review, we assessed departmental responses to 74 of 288 (26 %) alleged violations of [PREA] that were investigated and closed from March 2024 through August 2024,” the OIG wrote. “The 74 cases we reviewed were reviewed by prison Institutional PREA Review Committees from March 1, 2024, through August 31, 2024.”
The OIG special review assessed CDCR investigations made against prisoners by examining “departmental responses to PREA allegations at three different stages: identification, investigation, and institutional oversight and review.”
Of the 74 alleged PREA violations examined in the August OIG review, the majority were “unsubstantiated.” These were 42 nonconsensual sexual acts; 21 abusive sexual contacts; and two acts of harassment. Two allegations were “unfounded” (nonconsensual sexual acts and abusive sexual contact) and seven were “substantiated.” The latter were three nonconsensual sexual acts and four abusive sexual contacts.
The OIG made five recommendations to the CDCR for improvement, which include audio and videotaped interviews of alleged victims; PREA investigator training; wardens to require corrective action if staff fail to comply with law or departmental policy; more monitoring; and identify and document areas for corrective action when noncompliance occurs.
In response, the CDCR Secretary wrote in part, “while the OIG report identifies several opportunities for improvement, it is crucial that the evaluative framework accurately reflects the established standards and practices governing our investigations. The Department remains dedicated to refining its processes and ensuring the safety and well-being of all individuals within its facilities.”
According to Bloomberg News, transgender people have been targeted by Trump directives, which include his declaration that their gender ideology was “disconnected from biological reality.”
“Removing accommodations for trans people will provide ‘a green light’ for predators to sexually assault incarcerated adults and children who are already disproportionately at risk,” said Linda McFarlane, executive director of Just Detention International, a human rights organization that works to eliminate sexual abuse against prisoners, Bloomberg News reported. She said the change in policy is spreading confusion among prison officials who have worked decades to introduce common sense rules to end prisoner rape. “This is not and should not be a political issue.”