Abstract

 
 
 When Fauziya Kassindja landed at New York’s JFK airport in 1994, she was seventeen, seeking asylum, and fleeing the brutal practice of female genital mutilation. She was also menstruating. Hours after her arrival, Fauziya was strip searched, forced to stand before a female officer “completely naked, soiled pad exposed, shamed beyond words.” She was then transferred to an off-site detention facility where she was strip- searched again. When Fauziya asked where she should place her soiled pad, the female guard responded: “I don’t know. Why don’t you eat it?” When Fauziya asked for a new pad, she was told she could ask for one the next morning. She was given absolutely nothing to stay her flow—not even toilet paper or paper towels. This was the beginning of Fauziya’s experience with immigration detention. She would remain there for sixteen months.
 
 
Highlights
When Fauziya Kassindja landed at New York’s JFK airport in 1994, she was seventeen, seeking asylum, and fleeing the brutal practice of female genital mutilation.[1]
Fauziya was strip searched, forced to stand before a female officer “completely naked, soiled pad exposed, shamed beyond words.”[3]. She was transferred to an off-site detention facility where she was stripsearched again
Immigration detention is an unusual beast with familiar outlines
Summary
See Silvia Foster-Frau, Detention Unit in South Texas Holds Transgender Immigrants, NBCDFW (June 7, 2019), https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/detention-unit-in-south-texas-holds-transgender-immigrants/247623/ [https://perma.cc/JP9K-864N] (noting that while ICE held nearly 300 transgender detainees in first eight months of FY2019, “only a handful” were trans men). The authors characterized cycle flows as light if blood flow was less than or of clothing after visibly bleeding through their clothes.[22] A 2009 Human Rights Watch report found that menstruating adult women in immigration custody face similar challenges: officials distributed only a set number of sanitary pads, women experienced difficulties obtaining more pads as needed, and women were forced to wear soiled clothing when their sanitary supplies proved inadequate for their flow.[23] That same report found women suffered from poor medical care associated with menstruation. Flow capacity is not the only concern for menstruating women and girls Those who use tampons for more than six hours or overnight are at greater risk for toxic shock syndrome, a life-threatening bacterial infection. 22 Affidavit of Alma Poletti, Investigation Supervisor for the Washington State Attorney General’s Office (AGO), Civil Rights Division, ¶¶ 19, 36, August 23, 2019, https://agportals3bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/uploadedfiles/Another/News/Press_Releases/2019-0823%20Poletti_Declaration_FloresCDCA_Washington_FINAL.pdf [https://perma.cc/GSB7-47RV]
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