Chelsea Manning, serving a 35-year prison term for passing classified files to WikiLeaks, announced a hunger strike, Reuters reported.

Former U.S. soldier Bradley Manning who was born male but revealed after being convicted of espionage that she identifies herself as a woman would refuse to eat until the government provides her with medical care associated with the gender change. She demanded to be “treated with dignity, respect and humanity.”

According to Manning's representatives, doctors have recommended that as part of her treatment for gender dysphoria the solider, who began hormone therapy in 2015, be allowed to follow “female hair grooming standards.” The government has refused.  According to her, she was no longer asking, she was demanding.