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- The DOJ directed inspectors to forgo PREA-based standards protecting transgender, intersex, and gender-nonconforming inmates.
- The revision aligns federal policy with President Donald Trump’s executive order recognizing only two sexes, reducing protections for trans inmates.
- Transgender, intersex, and gender-nonconforming inmates face increased vulnerability to sexual violence without those protections.
December 5, 2025
Data from the National Institutes of Health reveal that physical and sexual assault are a part of the prison experience. Approximately 21% of male inmates are physically assaulted during a six-month period.
The Trump administration is eliminating prison standards to protect transgender, intersex, and gender-nonconforming inmates. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has instructed inspectors to forgo the standards that aim to protect inmates from sexual violence, according to an internal memo first reported by NPR.
The memo comes as the DOJ works on revising federal standards related to the 2003 Rape Elimination Act to align with President Donald Trump’s executive order on “gender ideology extremism.” The executive order only recognizes two sexes: male and female.
On Sept. 4, 2003, President George W. Bush signed the PREA law into effect to eradicate prisoner rape in correctional facilities nationwide. As a result of PREA, the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) established the Protecting Inmates and Safeguarding Communities Program in 2004. Funding allowed states to support the efforts in preventing and eliminating prisoner rape between inmates in state and local prisons, jails, and police lockup facilities.
Sexual Violence Inside Prisons
Data from the National Institutes of Health reveal that physical and sexual assault are a part of the prison experience. Approximately 21% of male inmates are physically assaulted during six months.
Inmates who identify as transgender, intersex, or gender-nonconforming are uniquely vulnerable to sexual violence, according to the internal memo.
This latest move from the Trump administration peels back another layer of protection for the LGBTQ+ community, particularly those who identify as transgender. In a series of executive orders signed in his first few days in office, Trump eliminated a long-standing federal policy that allowed for incarcerated trans women to be housed in facilities that aligned with their gender identity. He also signed an executive order that banned transgender troops from serving openly in the military.
As a result, the Trump administration rescinded the retirements of United States Air Force and Space Force members who had earned the right after over 15 years of service. Seventeen transgender servicemembers filed a lawsuit, Ireland v. United States, against the Trump administration to receive the benefits they earned.
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