Disgusting, unsafe workplace practices. forcing women to look at men's genitalia and potentially touch it is assault. I can imagine, in the current political climate, how difficult it would be to file an occupational health and safety complaint about it and how spineless staff unions probably are in the face of this.
Yes, Josie’s union is captured and doesn’t appear to have one spine amongst the lot of them. I didn’t go into that in my article, but Josie said they wouldn’t support the female staff over this.
That said, when I worked as a registered nurse in an intensive care unit, I also had to touch men's junk on a regular basis. The majority of our patients were young men, all but two of our 50 odd nurses were female, and all of our patients were unconscious and needed a full bed bath including catheter care ie washing the genitals every shift to prevent infection. Even though the patients were unconscious, washing their bits still often gave them an erection. This is the reality of working as a nurse in an intensive care unit.
I'm pointing out that if being required to touch men's genitalia as part of your working life is "an assault" then this is a wide spread and long standing problem for women that has gone on since the Victorian era, because nursing is the largest female profession in the country. I'm sorry, but please tell me how I'm getting this wrong. Every single female nurse you know has touched the genitals of hundreds if not thousands of her male patients during her professional life. Every. Single. One. It's called putting things in perspective. And if you genuinely see this as my having been sexually assaulted thousands of times, then don't you think you ought to have some sympathy instead of attacking me for pointing it out?
The work a female Corrections Officer is required to do is very different to that which a female nurse does, in very different environment, with very different training and expectations, and very different 'inmates', of whom some are now men with a sexual fetish who enjoy parading it. There is no comparison between the jobs, apart from being female. Most of us will have very little understanding of what a female Corrections Officer does, because most of us don't go to prison, and the job is not thought of, or spoken of, with the same regard as nursing is. We have much more understanding of what nurses do (although, still limited) because many of us will have had interaction with a nurse in our lives at some stage, and there is not only more discourse about nursing in general, but it's more positive.
I made no mention in my article about touching male genitals, nor sexual assault.
I was replying to Kathleen's comment that "forcing women to look at men's genitalia and potentially touch it is assault." You then inserted yourself to attack my comment, defending by proxy her comment that forcing women to touch men's genitals was an assault (surely a sexual one, because what other kind of assault could that possibly be?)
Nurses provide care to ALL people, including autogynephilic men who end up in prison. And it is part of our ethical code that we cannot refuse care to anyone, and it my training it was stressed to us that that included rapists and child molesters', and unlike many of the things that we were taught at nursing school, this one is actually what happens in the real world. Nurses who have refused to work with these patients (including when it involves touching their junk) have been disciplined by their employer (which has included being threatened with their dismissal).
The idea which you did defend, that corrections officers being forced to handle men's junk was a sexual assault, but that nurses being forced to handle men's junk is not a sexual assault is completely absurd. If, as Kathleen maintains that forcing women to handle mens junk in their workplace is a sexual assault, then this is a problem that also afflicts nurses (and now female doctors being "forced" to do prostate checks ie stick their fingers up men's bums and insert catheters), and has affected nurses for as long as nursing has existed. And if it's not assault when nurses and doctors do this all across the country all day long for the past 100 plus years, then its not sexual assault when it happens to corrections officers either. Its one or the other. Its the same situation. And how a profession is publically regarded makes no difference to whether or not its members are being sexually assaulted: that's completely irrelevant.
You accused me of minimizing the corrections officers experience by disputing that its a sexual assault, but you are now in exactly the same way minimizing my experience (and that of my fellow nurses and female doctors) of being forced on pains of dismissal to touch hundreds (at least) of men's junk.
I've been a registered nurse for 30 years, but feel free to continue to beclown yourself by telling me about my profession.
The reason I bothered to reply to Kathleen's post in the first place, by the way, is because when you throw words like rape, sexual assault, antisemitism around casually, (accusing people who criticize Israel's murderous policies of antisemitism for example), then these words lose their meaning. Antisemitism now means nothing, and yet real antisemitism still does actually exist. It will be very bad for us as women if we let this happen with rape and sexual assault, so we need to only use these words when they actually apply.
I suspect that many of these men sensed the discomfort of the women who had to search them and that this feeling was very pleasing for them. It mainly appears to be men who get a kick from causing women to feel uncomfortable and this was just another venue for them to exhibit the power of the penis. What a bunch of cowardly bullies they are.
Such important reporting Katrina. Thank you.
Disgusting, unsafe workplace practices. forcing women to look at men's genitalia and potentially touch it is assault. I can imagine, in the current political climate, how difficult it would be to file an occupational health and safety complaint about it and how spineless staff unions probably are in the face of this.
Infuriating.
Yes, Josie’s union is captured and doesn’t appear to have one spine amongst the lot of them. I didn’t go into that in my article, but Josie said they wouldn’t support the female staff over this.
That said, when I worked as a registered nurse in an intensive care unit, I also had to touch men's junk on a regular basis. The majority of our patients were young men, all but two of our 50 odd nurses were female, and all of our patients were unconscious and needed a full bed bath including catheter care ie washing the genitals every shift to prevent infection. Even though the patients were unconscious, washing their bits still often gave them an erection. This is the reality of working as a nurse in an intensive care unit.
And? Is this some kind of minimising of Josie's story, because you had to do this on unconscious men?
I'm pointing out that if being required to touch men's genitalia as part of your working life is "an assault" then this is a wide spread and long standing problem for women that has gone on since the Victorian era, because nursing is the largest female profession in the country. I'm sorry, but please tell me how I'm getting this wrong. Every single female nurse you know has touched the genitals of hundreds if not thousands of her male patients during her professional life. Every. Single. One. It's called putting things in perspective. And if you genuinely see this as my having been sexually assaulted thousands of times, then don't you think you ought to have some sympathy instead of attacking me for pointing it out?
The work a female Corrections Officer is required to do is very different to that which a female nurse does, in very different environment, with very different training and expectations, and very different 'inmates', of whom some are now men with a sexual fetish who enjoy parading it. There is no comparison between the jobs, apart from being female. Most of us will have very little understanding of what a female Corrections Officer does, because most of us don't go to prison, and the job is not thought of, or spoken of, with the same regard as nursing is. We have much more understanding of what nurses do (although, still limited) because many of us will have had interaction with a nurse in our lives at some stage, and there is not only more discourse about nursing in general, but it's more positive.
I made no mention in my article about touching male genitals, nor sexual assault.
I was replying to Kathleen's comment that "forcing women to look at men's genitalia and potentially touch it is assault." You then inserted yourself to attack my comment, defending by proxy her comment that forcing women to touch men's genitals was an assault (surely a sexual one, because what other kind of assault could that possibly be?)
Nurses provide care to ALL people, including autogynephilic men who end up in prison. And it is part of our ethical code that we cannot refuse care to anyone, and it my training it was stressed to us that that included rapists and child molesters', and unlike many of the things that we were taught at nursing school, this one is actually what happens in the real world. Nurses who have refused to work with these patients (including when it involves touching their junk) have been disciplined by their employer (which has included being threatened with their dismissal).
The idea which you did defend, that corrections officers being forced to handle men's junk was a sexual assault, but that nurses being forced to handle men's junk is not a sexual assault is completely absurd. If, as Kathleen maintains that forcing women to handle mens junk in their workplace is a sexual assault, then this is a problem that also afflicts nurses (and now female doctors being "forced" to do prostate checks ie stick their fingers up men's bums and insert catheters), and has affected nurses for as long as nursing has existed. And if it's not assault when nurses and doctors do this all across the country all day long for the past 100 plus years, then its not sexual assault when it happens to corrections officers either. Its one or the other. Its the same situation. And how a profession is publically regarded makes no difference to whether or not its members are being sexually assaulted: that's completely irrelevant.
You accused me of minimizing the corrections officers experience by disputing that its a sexual assault, but you are now in exactly the same way minimizing my experience (and that of my fellow nurses and female doctors) of being forced on pains of dismissal to touch hundreds (at least) of men's junk.
I've been a registered nurse for 30 years, but feel free to continue to beclown yourself by telling me about my profession.
The reason I bothered to reply to Kathleen's post in the first place, by the way, is because when you throw words like rape, sexual assault, antisemitism around casually, (accusing people who criticize Israel's murderous policies of antisemitism for example), then these words lose their meaning. Antisemitism now means nothing, and yet real antisemitism still does actually exist. It will be very bad for us as women if we let this happen with rape and sexual assault, so we need to only use these words when they actually apply.
Your comments are observed and noted.
foul, dangerous and completely wrong. men do not belong in women's prisons. ever.
You are doing wonderful work on this Substack. Thank YOU.
I wonder if Reduxx would like to get these reports from you - I think they need a wider audience.
Reduxx publishes the odd thing from NZ and Oz. I don’t know how they source it - perhaps they have a ‘secret agent’ here :-)
I suspect that many of these men sensed the discomfort of the women who had to search them and that this feeling was very pleasing for them. It mainly appears to be men who get a kick from causing women to feel uncomfortable and this was just another venue for them to exhibit the power of the penis. What a bunch of cowardly bullies they are.
I agree.
Well done Katrina, some real reporting.
Was great to hear you on RCR the other day, it's nice to have a voice to go with the words.
Thanks, Tim.
35 + 4 = 39, not 46. So where were the other 7 men housed? Sounds like corrections is fudging the numbers.
Corrections also classify 'non-binary' under the transgender umbrella, so that may be where the shortfall is.