The Fluvanna Correctional Center in Troy, Virginia—the largest women’s prison in the state— separated dozens of lesbians and straight women who looked masculine from the rest of the inmates, according to a report by the Associated Press.

Inmates and corrections officers told the Associated Press that what began as an effort to break up couples and cease sexual activity in the prison turned into a practice of sending women to wing 5D, also called the “butch wing,” “little boys wing,” “locker room wing” and “studs wing.”

Women sent to wing 5D said they were verbally harassed by staff once they got there and were kept separated from other inmates during meals, as well. Three of the guards confirmed the women’s charges.

One former guard, William Drumheller, said manager Timothy Back started the practice to separate couples, and it lasted over a year. The wing, which can hold 60 inmates, eventually became a place for women targeted due to their appearance, like those who had short hair or wore loose-fitting clothes.

"I heard him say, 'We're going to break up some of these relationships, start a boys wing, and we're going to take all these studs and put them together and see how they like looking at nothing but each other all day instead of their girlfriends,'" Drumheller said of Back.