""Women were turned away after traveling to see their incarcerated loved ones and barred from future visits for six months or even indefinitely - all because they were on their period," a post from the NYCLU's Instagram page reads. "This is a clear act of sex discrimination. The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision must restore these women's visitation rights and change screening procedures immediately to accommodate the basic fact that some visitors will be menstruating.""
"When Hansen got to the scanner, she was flagged, and eventually, an officer had her step into a back room. The back room contained three male officers and a police dog. "This is how horror movies start," she told New York Focus. She said the officers interrogated her, asking to search her and her car. They had the dog smell her several times. Hansen was ultimately "allowed" to remove the tampon and go back through the scanner."
Body scanners in New York correctional facilities have misidentified tampons as contraband, triggering visitation denials and long-term bans for menstruating women. Visitors have been turned away after lengthy travel, barred from visits for six months or indefinitely, and subjected to invasive secondary screening. One visitor and her teenage daughter were isolated; three male officers and a police dog interrogated and sniffed the visitor, forced her to remove a tampon, and then downgraded the visit to no-contact through glass. The New York Civil Liberties Union labeled the practice sex discrimination and demanded restoration of visitation rights and revised screening procedures.
Read at Scary Mommy
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