LINCOLN, Ill. (AP) | A transgender inmate who received rare approval from Illinois prison authorities to move from a men’s to a women’s prison says she feels safe in the new accommodations.
The Chicago Tribune reports 27-year-old Strawberry Hampton says she no longer worries about being attacked for being a woman.
Hampton, whose legal first name is Deon, was recently transferred to Logan Correctional Center, a women’s prison in central Illinois. She’s serving a 10-year sentence for burglary.
The move comes after a yearlong legal battle. Hampton requested the transfer arguing that she’d be less vulnerable to sexual assault, taunting and beatings. Hampton alleged she experienced abuse and sexual assault by inmates and staff at multiple men’s facilities in Illinois.
Hampton has pending lawsuits against corrections officers at various prisons she says abused or failed to protect her.
