Project on Addressing Prison Rape

District of Columbia

  1. Policy: District of Columbia Department of Corrections, Gender Classification and Housing 4020.3E
  2. Language:
    1. For the safety, security and order of the facility, the DOC classifies and houses male and female offenders in separate housing units. DOC shall classify an inmate who has male genitals as a male and one who has female genitals as a female, unless otherwise recommended by the Transgender Housing Committee and approved in accordance with this policy.
    2. In order to address the specific needs of transgender individuals, upon initial intake at Receiving and Discharge (R&D), or at any time that an inmate makes known to DOC staff their transgender or intersex status, staff shall follow the guidelines in this policy in order to determine the inmate’s housing based on his or her safety/security needs, housing availability, gender identity and genitalia, if:
      1. An inmate indicates that they are transgender or intersex at any time during their custody.
      2. An inmate’s gender identity, appearance, overt expression, or behavior differs from their assigned sex at birth.
      3. A gender designation made by any public entity, government agency or law enforcement agency indicates that the inmate is transgender.
    3. See also, DC Corrections Information Council: BRIEF REPORT: LGBT+ Persons in Prison.

“No one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens but its lowerst.”

Fyodor Dostoevsky
American University Washington College of Law, Project Addressing Prison Rape