Meaning of V-coding | Babel Free

Definitions

The placement of incarcerated trans women in cells with aggressive cisgender male inmates as a form of reward or pacification for said male inmates.

uncountable

Examples

“In a grotesque manipulation of power dynamics, sexual and carceral violence combine to produce V-coding: Prison staff “pacify” incarcerated men by putting a trans woman in a cell with them to “offer” sexual favors. But this kind of sex, usually unprotected, isn’t sex at all. It’s facilitated rape. Studies and testimonies over the past decades define V-coding as “a central part of a trans woman’s sentence.” One survivor, Kim Love, described being forced to take a “husband.” Prison authorities frame this as violence prevention.”

CEFR level