Article Link: https://womensenews.org/2021/09/no-justice-no-freedom-medical-abuse-in-private-prisons/
In the article “No Justice, No Freedom: Medical Abuse in Private Prisons”, the author talks about how it has been a year since some of the victims of medical abuse in U.S. private prisons have spoke out about how doctors preformed gynecological procedures on them without knowing what exactly they were doing. A lot of the women reported that the pain felt like that of child birth and it went on for days. The article goes on to discuss how even after a year of fighting, and a year of the world being aware about this horrible situation, that nothing has been done.
The victims of these procedures were immigrant women who were put in immigrant detention centers. Many of these women were medically abused and then sent on their way, wherever they were suppose to go. The article also noted that ICE was aware that the conditions of these facilities were inhumane, and violated basic health and safety standards, and yet nothing was done about it until now.
In January, the Biden Administration announced an executive order to end all contracts with private prisons due to multiple factors. The Biden Administration also announced that they would stop detaining immigrants in the two prisons that were known for being inhumane, however, the number of detained immigrants had doubled since the end of February.
I think that Americans have always prided themselves in being the country that tends to be the hero of the story, but we can see just how villainous we can be. Our countries Constitution states that we have to protect those who are detained under our custody, and these women were denied their basic human right. I think these women deserve justice, and those who turned a blind eye and allowed for this to happen need to be punished, do you?
This is so sad to read. I had never heard about it before. America can definitely be villainous. I hate how we are sometimes, and I wish that we were a better place.
This is another way for us to think intersectionally — women who are disadvantaged by their immigration status as well as nativity (many are probably Latina), and how prisons can so easily hide abuse like this.
If anyone wants to do your paper on the prison system, this could be a good one to do.
I think this is a great informational post on the lives of immigrant women and the abuse they have to face in efforts of just coming here, especially in the medical field. It is sad to say that I did not know that immigrant women were being medically abused in the current time, but I see that this has been a hidden issue for some time considering that ICE centers did the bare minimum to stop this abuse. I am glad to see that the Biden administration is tracking down on this abuse and trying to implement ways to stop it, but I am confused on why exactly these women were targeted in the medical system? What gynecological procedures were done on immigrant women and why were they worked on in the first place? Did doctors take advantage of these women who might be ill already that they decide to “experiment” on them with procedures that were probably not fit with their situations? It is interesting to see how past patterns of abuse in people with different nationalities and races can be shared amongst these people, even in current time.
This is very heartbreaking to read. Unbearable pain on these innocent women for no good reason and without consent? This is absolutely horrible and I wish there was something that protected them form this ever happening.