Asunción.- About 60 trans women imprisoned in Paraguay between 2020 and 2026 reported being victims of violence, exclusion, and discrimination in penitentiary centers and having received “insufficient” healthcare, according to a study released this Monday by the state-run National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture (MNP).
The ‘Trans Penitentiary Diagnosis’, prepared by the organization Casa Diversa, determined that 100% of those interviewed rated health care “as basic or insufficient”, pointing out “long delays, lack of confidentiality in matters related to sexual health, and deficiencies in the delivery of medication”, the MNP indicated in a statement.
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All those interviewed —the note added— went through shared cells, even with men; they suffered transfers without prior notice, extortion within the prisons to “access cells considered safe”, episodes of physical and verbal violence and sexual exploitation.
The study also highlighted that 8.3% of the trans women surveyed accessed educational spaces within the prisons.
The representative of Casa Diversa, Yren Noriega, told EFE that the study collects the testimonies of 60 trans people who are or were incarcerated between 2020 and 2026.
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Noriega indicated that trans women are held in male penitentiaries and that a protocol from the Ministry of Justice, which establishes the separation of this group into differentiated pavilions, “is not being complied with.”
The exclusive pavilions added Noriega allow a “lower risk” of trans women suffering sexual abuse, violence or discrimination.
According to Casas Diversa records, there are currently about 30 trans people incarcerated in prisons.
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Likewise, Noriega denounced the absence of a social reintegration program focused on this group, which —he stated— lives in “inhumane” and overcrowded conditions in Paraguayan prisons.
The activist hopes that the study will be “a tool to seek to improve the living conditions” of trans people in prisons and that progress will be made in creating a dialogue table with State institutions to address this issue.
