On March 16, 2026, the Sexual Violence Prevention Association (SVPA) met with the Department of Justice (DOJ) under Executive Order 12866 to discuss the administration’s reckless plan to cut sexual violence protections for trans and intersex people who are incarcerated. If not reversed, the proposed rollbacks will increase state sexual violence.
The DOJ sent a memo in December 2025 instructing prisons to disregard standards from the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) designed to protect trans and intersex people, such as appropriate searches, access to safe showering, and requirements surrounding staff treatment.
The SVPA has advocated against these changes since the memo was released. The proposed changes would place an already vulnerable population at greater risk for sexual violence. Further, the DOJ has attempted to make these changes without initiating the notice-and-comment rulemaking process required by law. Rather, the administration has attempted to implement the changes through internal communications directly with prisons, shielding the policy from public scrutiny and accountability.
Nonprofits, legal advocates, and PREA auditors across the country have expressed alarm over this memo and its implementation. The SVPA stands with Southern Poverty Law Center, the ACLU, Ascend Justice, and the Legal Aid Society, and many other organizations who have voiced opposition.
Eliminating the standards for gender-appropriate searches will cause state-sanctioned sexual violence. This occurs when an agent or institution commits a nonconsensual sexual act with explicit impunity granted by the state. The DOJ instructing auditors to ignore existing PREA protections, such as safe showering, will also increase state-tolerated sexual violence. Staff are effectively being told they will not be held accountable for sexual violence against trans and intersex people.
“Removing PREA protections not only increases the risk of sexual violence, it represents the government’s official endorsement of it,” said Omny Miranda Martone, Founder and CEO of the SVPA. “These changes will absolutely result in sexual violence against trans, nonbinary, and intersex individuals across the country.”
The Bureau of Justice Statistics has found that approximately 35% of trans incarcerated people experience sexual violence during each year they are detained. This is more than ten times the rate of cisgender people. PREA standards requiring gender-appropriate searches, safe showering, and respect staff treatment were developed in response to this crisis.
The DOJ memo cites Executive Order 14168, which denies the existence of transgender people, as the basis for removing requirements that protect them. The legality of this executive order has been questioned and is still under consideration by the courts. Further, the DOJ memo has left corrections personnel with confusion and conflicting orders, because existing PREA standards remain legally in effect. This ambiguity will lead to inconsistent practices across facilities, which increases harm and liability.
The SVPA’s work on this issue aligns with our previous advocacy to the DOJ as well as our support of state bills in Montana, Colorado, and Idaho to prevent state sexual violence.
Dismantling PREA protections will cause real harm. It will increase sexual violence against trans and intersex incarcerated people, erode decades of progress in rape prevention policies in prisons, and further state sexual violence. Furthermore, the secrecy in which this memo has been rolled out is alarming and illegal. The DOJ should be working to prevent sexual violence, not endorsing it.
We call on the DOJ to immediately rescind this memo. Any changes to PREA must be proposed through a full and transparent notice-and-commit rulemaking process. We urge all correctional facilities to follow existing PREA standards upholding their responsibility to prevent sexual violence.
You can view the notes from our meeting with the DOJ here and our full comments here.
