PWN Condemns the Trump Administration’s Latest Attacks on Reproductive Justice
Positive Women’s Network-USA (PWN) unequivocally condemns the Trump administration’s newly reported campaign of terror against immigrants in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
September 18, 2020: On September 14, 2020, Dawn Wooten, a Black licensed practical nurse, filed a complaint with the U.S. Office of the Inspector General on behalf of immigrants detained at the Irwin County Detention Center (ICDC) in Georgia. Dawn was employed by ICDC, where she witnessed human rights abuses against the immigrants detained at the facility, including the horrific practice of performing unnecessary hysterectomies on women without their consent and knowledge.
We stand in full support of the actions taken by Ms. Wooten, which put herself, her career, and her family at risk, to defend the humanity and reproductive autonomy of those in ICE custody. We ask for full whistleblower protections for her and hope other organizations will advocate for the same.
Using forced and coerced sterilization as a way of exercising control over Black and Indigenous people of color, immigrants, and disabled communities has a long history in this country.
These human rights abuses persist in jails, prisons and detention facilities across the United States. The highest levels of government, including the Supreme Court, federal government, and state created boards, have protected and advanced these racist policies.
Women and people of transgender experience living with HIV have been targeted by these kinds of policies. Those in power continue to believe that certain people, namely those from marginalized communities, cannot be trusted with their bodily autonomy, sexual health, and procreative lives.
As advocates for women and people of transgender experience living with HIV, PWN understands the unique kind of cruelty that is enacted when reproductive autonomy is stolen.
We cannot allow these atrocities to go unnoticed and we cannot let the sacrifices Ms. Wooten made happen in vain.
We join in chorus with organizations across the social justice spectrum–from disability rights to reproductive justice, to immigration rights advocates–to call for an end to these human rights violations.
Click here to join United We Dream’s demand that ICE halt operations and let detainees go.
Click here to sign SisterSong’s reproductive justice call to action.
You can also call your member of Congress and demand an investigation into this most recent atrocity.
Click here to find out who your representative is, how to contact them, and what to expect when you call.
