Strawberry Hampton, legally Deon Hampton, 26, is a transgender Chicago woman seeking a transfer from a male to a female prison
A transgender woman from Chicago, who is serving a ten year sentence for burglary, is seeking a rare transfer from a male to a female prison.
Strawberry Hampton, legally Deon Hampton, 26, says she’ll be less vulnerable to abuse if she moves to another facility, because she claims the guards single her out for regular sexual abuse.
She claims they taunt and beat her at the high-security men’s prison where she is serving her time in southern Illinois.
A federal judge will hear testimony Friday on her transfer request.
Her attorney Alan Mills of the Uptown People’s Law Center says Hampton has been repeatedly sexually assaulted by corrections officers.
She has several attorney’s and is being represented by Uptown People’s Law Center, a non-profit organization in Chicago.
![26-year-old Strawberry Hampton, legally Deon Hampton (pictured here), says she'll be less vulnerable to abuse as she argues the guards single her out for regular sexual abuse](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2018/01/05/19/47CA3CED00000578-5237825-image-a-3_1515182105110.jpg)
26-year-old Strawberry Hampton, legally Deon Hampton (pictured here), says she’ll be less vulnerable to abuse as she argues the guards single her out for regular sexual abuse
He said guards ‘ordered her to strip to her underwear and forced her to perform sexual acts with her cellmate for the officers’ entertainment.
‘She eventually said I’m not going to do this anymore and reported them through the PREA, the Prison Rape Elimination Act, the people who were harassing her,’ Mills said.
‘When the guards found out she had reported them, that’s when the abuse really escalated.’
![Hampton has said not only is she being beaten but apparently she has also been put in solitary confinement and is denied food, causing her to lose 35 lb](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2018/01/05/20/47CA570900000578-5237825-image-a-13_1515185308806.jpg)
Hampton has said not only is she being beaten but apparently she has also been put in solitary confinement and is denied food, causing her to lose 35 lb
Not only is she beaten but apparently she is put in solitary confinement and is denied food, causing her to lose 35 lb.
The supposed abuse began at the Pinckneyville Correctional Center and has continued even after Hampton transferred to the Menard Correctional Center.
A press release stated they have ‘asked the federal court for an emergency order to protect Strawberry Hampton from further abuse and harassment at the hands of Illinois Department of Corrections.’
Sheila Bedi, one of her attorneys said ‘At this moment, when countless women in the free world are coming forward to tell their stories of sexual abuse with the #metoo hashtag, Strawberry has been thrown into solitary confinement and subjected to further abuse for speaking her truth about sexual violence.’
‘The ‘me too’ movement must create space for imprisoned survivors of sexual abuse. Our hope is the court will take immediate action to protect her, and will house her with other women where she can be protected from further abuse,’ she said.
![This mugshot of Deon was taken when she was arrested on Monday, February 17, 2014](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2018/01/05/21/47CB0BDF00000578-5237825-image-a-14_1515186004189.jpg)
This mugshot of Deon was taken when she was arrested on Monday, February 17, 2014
![The alleged abuse began at the Pinckneyville Correctional Center (pictured here)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2018/01/05/19/47CA3E9900000578-5237825-image-a-5_1515182119036.jpg)
The alleged abuse began at the Pinckneyville Correctional Center (pictured here)
Male to female transgender inmates can be transferred to women’s prisons, but it happens very infrequently.
Federal data from 2016 indicates there were no transgender prisoners in Illinois’ two female prisons. There were 28 in the state’s 24 male prisons.
Testimony in Benton will include experts describing how Hampton has identified as a female since she was five-years-old.
They will testify she has been chemically castrated but has not had gender reassignment surgery.
![Hampton was then transferred to the Menard Correctional Center where she says the abuse continued](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2018/01/05/21/47CA3E9D00000578-5237825-Hampton_was_then_transferred_to_the_Menard_Correctional_Center_w-a-27_1515186277783.jpg)
Hampton was then transferred to the Menard Correctional Center where she says the abuse continued