On Tuesday we release our third investigative and educational report, “Breaking the Silence: Civil and Human Rights Violations Resulting from Medical Neglect and Abuse of Women of Color in Los Angeles County Jails.”

MEET: 8:30 a.m.
PRESS CONFERENCE: 9 a.m.
After which we will stay and give testimony to the Board of Supervisors. Please join us and sign up for public comment!

Our new report highlights the stories of #7WomenOfColor who were previously incarcerated. The report offers these dire recommendations:

1. End immediately the medical neglect and abuse of incarcerated women in LA County detention facilities by:
a. Increasing incarcerated women’s access to physical and mental health professionals;
b. Eliminating the over- and under-medication of incarcerated women with mental health concerns;
c. Eliminating over-reliance on psychotropic drugs and making alternative therapies available for the treatment of incarcerated women with mental health conditions;
d. Eliminating the solitary confinement of incarcerated persons with mental health conditions;
e. Increasing incarcerated women’s access to basic hygiene products, including sanitary pads and tampons;

2. Establish an effective institutional mechanism for monitoring the mental health of incarcerated women, with the authority to divert women with mental health conditions from jails to community-based mental health care programs;

3. Begin immediately the collection of disaggregated, comprehensive, publicly accessible data on LA County detainees’ race, gender and mental health status;

4. Reduce the population of all incarcerated persons with mental health conditions by increasing the availability of community-based mental health resources and jail and prison diversion programs;

5. Pursue policy at the state and county levels, that prioritizes family reunification, and requires LASD officials to adopt policies that prioritize family reunification over incarceration for persons with mental health conditions;

6. End immediately further construction of jails and prisons, especially construction that occurs at the expense of community-based mental health care services; and

7. Protect the dignity and restore the power of incarcerated individuals, their families, and their communities by systematically phasing out incarceration and redirecting funds toward effective jail and prison diversion programs.