Women’s groups to protest males in women’s prisons in Maine, Massachusetts this week 

Women’s groups will protest outside prisons in Maine and Massachusetts this week, asking the states to stop housing male inmates with women.

New England Women’s Solidarity will hold a rally outside the Maine Correctional Center’s women’s facility in Windham on Wednesday. It will hold another outside MCI-Framingham in Massachusetts on Friday.

The group says female inmates face abuse from men who identify as women and share their living quarters.

“Incarcerated women in Maine report that they’re subjected to threats of rape and violence, unwanted touching and other abuse by male inmates who now share their sleeping quarters and shower facilities,” Jennifer Gingrich, the group’s co-director, said in a press release.

The Windham protest will run from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at 230 River Road. The Framingham protest will run from 10 to 11:30 a.m. behind the prison on Western Avenue.

Women’s Declaration International USA and Democrats for an Informed Approach to Gender will co-sponsor both rallies. Massachusetts Women for Sex-Based Rights will also sponsor the Framingham event.

Both states have laws allowing male inmates who identify as transgender women to live in women’s prisons.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills signed her state’s law in 2021. It requires prisons to base housing on an inmate’s gender identity regardless of the inmate’s body. It allows exceptions when a placement would cause serious security or management problems or threaten the inmate’s health or safety.

Massachusetts passed its law in 2018 under then-Gov. Charlie Baker. It also requires housing based on gender identity. Officials can deny a placement because of risks to the inmate’s health or safety or because of management or security problems. They must explain the reason in writing.

Organizers pointed to convicted killers who now live in women’s facilities.

Andrew Balcer is serving 40 years in Maine for killing both of his parents. Kenneth Hunt, who now goes by Katheena Nevia Soneeya, is serving a life sentence in Massachusetts for sexually assaulting and murdering two women.

President Donald Trump has also tried to keep men out of women’s prisons.

His Jan. 20, 2025, executive order directed federal officials to keep men out of those facilities. It also told the Bureau of Prisons to stop paying for treatments that aim to make inmates resemble the opposite sex. Courts have blocked some transfers after inmates sued.

While the order didn’t repeal either state’s law, the Trump administration has challenged the housing of males in state women’s prisons.

The Justice Department announced an investigation into the Windham prison on March 26, saying it would examine claims that Maine kept a male inmate with women after complaints that he assaulted or harassed female prisoners.

“The Trump Administration will not stand by if governors are facilitating the abuse of biological women under the guise of inclusion,” then-Attorney General Pam Bondi said at the time.

The DOJ announced cuts to Maine prison grants over the policy in April 2025. Federal officials reversed those cuts and restored the grants that June, the Maine Wire reported, citing government emails.

Heartlander News reported in January on abuse claims at MCI-Framingham. Female inmates said male prisoners harmed them. Some also said prison officials punished them after they reported abuse.

New England Women’s Solidarity wants men who need protection to live in separate units within men’s prisons.

“Female inmates aren’t human shields to be used to protect men at the expense of women’s safety,” co-director Christy Hammer said.