Translated material
Transgender in Russian prison
The transgender girl Albina Matyunin, who was in the past by Alexei Matyunin, was transferred to Rostov-on-Don. On November 10, police detained her in one of the passport tables of the capital while trying to get a new passport. Now the girl is threatened for two years in a male colony. The Rus2web project talked with a lawyer Matyunina, a lawyer, a psychologist and a human rights activist about how the Russian judicial system works regarding transgender people, as well as the difficulties that those who decided to change the floor are faced with in Russia.
What happened
On November 10, in one of the passport tables of the capital, law enforcement officers detained the transgender girl Albina Matyunin, who is an Alexei Matyunin on the passport. The fact is that in 2011 the court of the Rostov region found Alexei guilty of the attempt to theft. The amount of damage amounted to 1810 rubles. Alexey received a suspended sentence. As a result, he was obliged to regularly celebrate in the police for two years.
When at a certain age you understand that the body that develops does not suit at all
However, in 2013, Alexei and his twin brother Alexander decided to change the floor and went to Moscow. Health problems prompted the brothers to move - according to Eve (Alexander), they had a disorder of gender identification: "When at a certain age you understand that the body that develops does not suit at all." In the capital, young people were able to start the floor change procedures. As a result, Alexei became Albina, and Alexander was Eve.
Albina (Alexei) did not have time to change his passport.
What is happening now
After the detention, the police took the girl to the Khoroshevskoye police department. According to them, she has been on the federal wanted list since 2013. Although according to Albina herself, her inspector told her that it could be noted by phone and this is not a violation of conditional conclusion.
Then she was sent from the ATS to the investigative insulator No. 4 "Bear", where she spent part of the time in a separate chamber. From there Albin was transferred to Rostov-on-Don. Now the girl threatens for two years in a male colony, since due to gender in the passport for law enforcement agencies Albina is still Alexei.
What does the lawyer Albina Matyunina say
Albina Matyunin is defended by lawyer Olga Badalyan . She told Rus2Web that after transferring to Rostov there is almost no information about the whereabouts of the girl and the conditions of her content. “Now I am most interested in the question of her safety. But I have not yet been able to find out some details of Albina’s content,” says Badalyan.
The defender filed a petition to the Moscow court that Matyunina should not be in places of imprisonment. However, at that time the girl has already been transferred. Now the lawyer collects all the necessary certificates and documents again in order to submit them already in Rostov-on-Don.
On November 10, the decision of the Rostov court on the deprivation of freedom of Matyunina for a period of two years entered into force. “What will happen to her if she is nevertheless placed in a common camera is better not to think,” says Badalyan. “I note that we are doing everything possible to protect it.”
What the experts say
The problem is that most often registry offices refuse transgender people to change documents
“I don’t know a single country where a person who has one gender marker in a passport could go to jail where the prisoners of another gender marker are contained,” says Tatyana Glushkova , lawyer and coordinator of the “legal assistance to transgender people.” “However, the question is not which colony is sent to a person, but how simple or difficult a citizen is to change the gender marker in a country in a country. documents ". Glushkova says that now there are six countries in the world - Denmark, Norway, Malta, Ireland, Colombia and Argentina - in which a person has the right to change the gender marker in documents based on his own statement. In other words, a person simply comes to the state body, says that he wants to change the floor in the documents, and calmly receives a new passport.
In Russia, this whole procedure is associated with a number of difficulties. First, who wants to change the gender must go through a psychiatric commission and get a diagnosis of “transgender”. Then, as a rule, he needs to transfer a series of medical interventions - at least hormonal therapy. And only after that, a citizen can apply to the registry office with a statement to change the floor in the documents. “However, here the problem is that most often registry offices refuse transgender people to change documents,” says Glushkova. “The fact is that a person should bring a medical certificate of the established sample to the registry office, but the form of this certificate in our country has not yet been clearly established. Accordingly, transgender people are forced to apply to the court. As a result, many of them live as representatives of the gend They are attributed, but their passport remains the same. "
Therefore, the situation in which the transgender girl is located is extremely life-threatening
As for the imprisonment of the transgender person in Russia, Glushkova recalls: prisoners, as a rule, contain several people in cells and in places of deprivation of liberty there is the so -called "prison hierarchy." And in it people like Matyunina fall into the "lower caste". That is why the situation in which the transgender girl is located is extremely life-threatening.
“If the lawyer cannot prove that Albina did not violate the conditions of her punishment, then she will have to sit down for two years in the colony. In this case, she has the right to submit a petition for conditional-free release (UDO) after eight months,” the lawyer says.
Glushkova also recalls that in accordance with Russian legislation, if the prisoner is in danger, he may demand a transfer to the so -called "safe place". “At the same time, the term of stay in this place is not regulated and theoretically, a person may be contained there throughout the entire term of imprisonment. I believe that if the head of the colony where Albina is located is a reasonable person, he will transfer her to such a place and she will be contained there. It is obvious that in her situation a single detention in a general detachment,” the expert concludes.
Former prosecutor, an employee of the FSB, and even more so the judge in the prison will be much worse than the transgender
The fact that “a transgender in prison is a separate story,” says Olga Romanova , the head of the Rus Sitting Human Rights: “Of course, people change their passport after they finish medical manipulations with their body, and not before. However, they put us and not be sentenced to passport, and not by appearance - there are quite a few such cases: when, most often, they are planted in men The colony, despite the fact that on all gender signs they are women. "
Romanova recalls that the transition to another floor itself can not be the basis for the abolition of punishment, but another thing is what it should be. She says that in Russia there are colonies, prisons and cameras under the head of the "BS". This means safe content. Lawyers, former judges, former police officers, FSB officers, and so on, fall under this category. “After all, to some former prosecutor, an FSB officer, and even more so the judge in the prison will be much worse than the transgenderman,” says Romanova. “Accordingly, we can say that in Russian colonies there are all conditions so that for one reason or another one can not be planted in the total mass, can serve sentences.”
In her opinion, the lawyer Matyunina must ensure that the BS mode is applied to her. In addition, it is important that her work in the colony is not associated with frequent communication with other prisoners. “And in fact, I think this will be done, since no one needs extra death,” the head of “Rus' sitting” believes.
What is a gender identification disorder
Gender dysphoria, or a disorder of gender identity, according to the international classification of diseases, is a person’s state when he does not accept his biological gender, feels dissatisfaction with his gender. A group of transgender people is the only one that has a similar official diagnosis. A certificate of permission to change the floor in Russia is issued by a special medical commission or psychotherapist.
Send Albina to a male colony is like keeping an ordinary woman in a men's prison
“Albina Eva Matyunina’s sister said that she and her sisters had a disease - a gender identification disorder. The fact that she considers a disorder precisely the disease is the position of part of the transgender people. They believe that it needs to be treated with hormonal drugs and surgical methods,” explains Yegor Burov , founder of the group of psychological assistance to transgender people “man” Changed by his request). To keep an ordinary woman in a male prison. "
The presence of Matyunina in a men's correctional institution is simply dangerous for her health, the expert says: “The prisoners have other attitudes regarding gender identity. They can confuse gender identity and sexual orientation, take Albina for homosexual and do it accordingly. In other words, it can become a victim of both psychological and physical violence. And this is completely Unacceptable. "
In his opinion, in the case of Matyunina, you need to connect human rights activists and try to transfer it to a separate camera, or somehow put a girl in a female colony: "Perhaps a more progressive part of the society should create a petition in defense of Albina, write letters to human rights activists and the relevant authorities with a demand to prevent Albina’s pretense into a male prison."
Statistics
All experts surveyed by Rus2Web said that there are no statistics on the number of transgender people in Russia. “After all, firstly, the gender and everything connected with it is a rather closed topic, and, secondly, many people prefer not to contact a medical commission, and begin to make a transition from one sex to another on their own. Nevertheless, global statistics indicate that from society there are from 1 to 3 percent of transgender people,” Burov says.
Olga Romanova, the head of Rus Sitting, told Rus2web that her organization, together with the Levada Center, plans to deal with this issue: "In our study, we will look at what is happening in prisons with customs and with non-traditional sexual relations. Of course, we will touch on the situation of transgender people in the colonies, but so far we are only talking about the need for such a study."