Japan - Gov't decision to halt hormone therapy for inmates

[Felix]

Gov't decision to halt hormone therapy for inmates with gender identity disorder under fire

The Mainichi Daily News
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20120331p2a00m0na013000c.html

The ministry's guidelines dated June 1 last year were sent out to prisons and detention centers under the names of the Correction Bureau's adult correction chief and the correctional facility medical manager. The guidelines stipulate medical treatment, rooms, bathing, medical checkups, clothes, haircuts and counseling for inmates with gender identity disorder.

Specifically, the guidelines say it is difficult for prisons and detention centers to examine such inmates and advise against treating them with hormone therapy, saying the therapy belongs to an extremely specialized field and that inmates receiving it face no immediate damage to their daily lives if it is halted.

[spacial]

On the face of of, this is a dreadful and cruel decision. Even more so, if it is cited by others, later.

But so many clarification questions arise. Most surrounding the nature of Japanese society and the availability of medical treatment there.

[Felix]

On the face of of, this is a dreadful and cruel decision. Even more so, if it is cited by others, later.

But so many clarification questions arise. Most surrounding the nature of Japanese society and the availability of medical treatment there.

Yeah. As much as this is a step back, the fact that discourse is happening is a step forward.

[spacial]

Possibly, but trying to understand any issue, let alone reach a judgemental opinion is not really possible without adequate information.

I'm more concerned that, when stories such as these are taken on face value, they can become fact in our minds.

[Felix]

Possibly, but trying to understand any issue, let alone reach a judgemental opinion is not really possible without adequate information.

I'm more concerned that, when stories such as these are taken on face value, they can become fact in our minds.

It was a pretty straightforward story. I think it can be taken at face value. Most places are still trying to figure out how to deal with us in jails and prisons.

[tekla]

I'm guessing based on what I read this morning that getting HRT in a Japanese prision would be the least of your problems.

When I arrived at the federal detention center in Los Angeles, I felt like I had died and gone to Disneyland. The difference in the two prison systems is incredible! The treatment I received in the American prison was humane and tolerable. The Japanese system lacks any trace of humanity. I believe that Japan needs to change many things about their prison system. Japan is one of the leading high-tech societies in the world, yet the prison system is a reflection of a draconian medieval society.

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