NEW YORK, NY December 12, 2007 —The New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit on behalf of women inmates who've been moved to an all-male maximum security prison in Trenton. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: Court filings say the decision of the state's Department of Corrections to move 40 female inmates from the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility to the state's highest security male facility has had serious consequences.

The ACLU's Debbie Jacobs:

JACOBS: They don't have access to basic hygiene tools. They can't send their underwear to get washed because it does not come back. Imagine 40 women among 1800 men when they go out at for exercise time they get cat called.

REPORTER: The Department of Corrections would not comment on the suit but said that the female inmates were getting the same level of care as they were at the only all-female facility. Over the last 30 years the state's female inmate population has increased seven fold. For WNYC I am Bob Hennelly