October 9, 2025 - Washington, DC — Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) on Wednesday introduced the Preventing Violence Against Female Inmates Act to prohibit the Bureau of Prisons from housing prisoners with persons of the opposite sex. The legislation would require federal inmates to be placed according to their biological sex and would withhold certain federal grants from states that fail to do the same.

“Prisoners should be placed based on their biological sex, not on what they chose to ‘identify’ as. Documented cases prove that placing men—including men who ‘identify’ as women—in women’s prisons puts female inmates at increased risk of sexual assault. My bill decreases the risk for women by ensuring men and women are separated in federal prison,” said Senator Cotton.

Text of the bill can be found here.

The Preventing Violence Against Female Inmates Act would:

• Bar housing together prisoners of different biological sex.
• Prohibit a state from receiving certain grants if they house prisoners of different biological sexes together.
  
  Source: Senator Tom Cotton