Women face sick choice
Suit slams Rikers med security
FEMALE RIKERS Island inmates were at risk of sexual assault by predatory medical personnel because jail brass failed to provide the required chaperones, a federal lawsuit charges.
Correction officers repeatedly told the inmates that there were no escorts available inside the Rose M. Singer Center on Rikers, according to the Manhattan court filing.
The failure was in direct violation of a Correction Department policy enacted in 2010 that requires a chaperone for every “intimate examination,” the suit contends.
“The defendants know that female prisoners are at risk of sexual assault, abuse and harassment by health care professionals, yet they fail to take necessary and appropriate action,” the lawsuit alleged.
The plaintiff, listed in court papers as K.A. to protect her identity, was on Rikers from Sept. 18, 2017 to April 11, 2018 and says she was repeatedly denied chaperones during that time.
K.A., who was jailed on grand larceny charges, said she was forced to choose between putting herself at risk of sexual abuse or getting medical treatment.
“It happened over and over again,” the 48-year-old told the Daily News, noting that she declined at least six possible doctor examinations due to a lack of a chaperone.
K.A. knows firsthand the dangers of meeting alone with medical staff on Rikers. She says she was assaulted by a physician’s assistant during a prior stint on Rikers.
In April 2017, medical staffer Sidney Wilson was charged with sexually assaulting K.A. and three other inmates between October 2013 and December 2014. Wilson contends the women are lying and has pleaded not guilty. The case appears to be pending.
K.A. says Wilson plied her with candy, cigarettes and chicken wings on the condition she agreed to show him her vagina or let him touch her sexually.
“These types of occurrences leave deep scars that never go away,” she said. “You feel inadequate or insecure or unworthy.”
In her recent Rikers stint, K.A. needed a doctor to examine her left arm, which underwent reconstructive surgery in 2010. The medical visit was deemed an intimate examination because she had to remove her shirt to give the doctor complete access to the area, she said.
The lawsuit seeks “compensatory and punitive damages.” “The policy is designed to protect women from potential sexual exploitations,” said Phillip Hines, the attorney handling the case. “They are either setting women up to be sexually abused or delay medical care.” According to a recent survey by the U.S. Department of Justice, 8.6% of the women who served time on Rikers in 2011-12 said they were sexually victimized in the previous 12 months. By comparison, 3.2% of women inmates nationally made similar allegations. The city’s Law Department is reviewing the complaint and declined comment about the pending litigation. A spokeswoman for Healthand Hospitals, which took over management of Correction Health services in 2015 from an outside contractor, said the agency has “ensured adequate staffing of female chaperones for patients.”