“War is Peace” is doublespeak; an inherent contradiction. Anybody can say it and still see the contradiction and believe that it isn’t true. Doublethink is the internalization of that doublespeak. A Party member says it and sees no contradiction. Deep in their hearts, they understand that to be in a never ending war is to experience neverending peace.
All that to say that doublespeak was certainly a thing in the novel, as it labours on the distinction between doublespeak and doublethink.
That’s the idea. US prisons are designed around cruel and unusual punishments. sexual violence by guards is already rampant, and sexual violence in general is so ubiquitous it’s literally one of the first things people think of when they think of prison. The judge that ruled she needed to go to a male prison did so intentionally and the cruelty is the point.
Honestly, the only reason this made the news is because her fellow prisoners are helping her and doing favors for her, instead of punishing her further. There wouldn’t be a news article if it was just another story of violence done to a trans woman