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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Prison reform experts and advocacy groups are raising alarms after Prism Reports revealed on Dec. 11, 2025, that recently released Department of Justice reports on sexual violence in prisons and jails omit data on incarcerated transgender people. The omission has stirred concerns that the lack of transparency could hinder reform efforts and obscure the realities of violence behind bars.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics released reports on “sexual victimization reported by prisoners” on Dec. 9. According to Prism, these reports are missing “key demographic information,” like race, sexual orientation, and age despite anonymous questionnaires from the surveys included in the reports suggesting that such data was collected.
The BJS has said they plan to release this data in 2026, however Prism says that experts are worried that data on trans and intersex people will continue to be unpublicized.
Prison Policy Initiative communications strategist Wanda Bertram expressed to Prism her concerns that the omission is the government “stick[ing] its head in the sand about a pretty key aspect of sexual assault in prisons.”
She calls it “glaring” considering the president’s administration’s “politicized [treatment] of trans people behind bars,” especially when they face “alarmingly high rates of sexual violence from prison staff and fellow prisoners.”
The article outlines how trans people are “over four times more likely” than cisgender people to be a victim of violent crime. National Inmate Survey 2014 data showed “nearly 40%” of transgender incarcerated people reporting “one or more incidents of sexual victimization.”
Prism also includes a February 2024 report from the Vera Institute of Justice and Black and Pink National that reported that early one-third of “nearly 300 incarcerated trans people” said that “violence from fellow prisoners was the principal reason they felt unsafe” along with more than half reporting to have been sexually assaulted while serving their sentences.
Prism continues to report the potential effects of the omission would have on “efforts to address sexual violence in detention,” coupled with the reality that such data on sexual violence in prisons are “novel.”
The reports are only the “fourth of their kind since 2007.” The novelty of these reports plus the omission of data about trans people is particularly concerning to experts and advocacy groups that they hinder progress in reform.
Cynthia Totten, a deputy executive director at Los Angeles-based advocacy group Just Detention International, explains that when given an “incomplete picture,” it becomes “impossible to do that next step to do the work of ensuring that correctional practices are as they should be.”
Another reason Prism reports to be alarming is the following memo sent to prison auditors on Dec. 9.
According to Prism, the memo had detailed a plan to “roll back standards under PREA aimed at protecting trans and intersex prisoners from sexual violence.” This included instructions to “ignore provisions” including required risk of sexual violence screenings, housing preferences, employee training on respectful treatment and other protections.
While the president’s plans to “change the standards” are still “up in the air” until a formal “rulemaking process” is completed, Prism says experts are worried that these rollbacks will lead to increased violence against trans and intersex people.
“We know it’s a very dangerous situation, not only for trans people but for everybody who’s incarcerated,” said Totten.
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