He said the measures would "improve safety" for prisoners. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. In response, the Ministry of Justice argued that the policy pursued the legitimate aim of facilitating the rights of transgender people to live in and as their acquired gender, adding that the policy protected trans womens mental and physical health. The ban also applies to trans women who are sex offenders or have been convicted of violent crimes. They could be kept in segregation before slowing integrating them into the mainstream population with "robust risk management, close monitoring and supervision". Forty-six trans-identifying males are located in eight male prisons known to almost exclusively house sex offenders. White House says Biden is fine after fall on stage, Blood test for 50 cancers excites scientists, Shelling in Russian border region kills two - governor, Girl who died in US border custody denied ambulance, Twitter loses second head of trust under Elon Musk, Brics ministers call for rebalancing of global order. The intention is to display ads that are relevant and engaging for the individual user and thereby more valuable for publishers and third party advertisers. Many more TIMs are likely to be hidden with no reference made to them in the reports. A similar observation has been published using official prison data and by interviewing transgender inmates in Californian prisons in the US. On October 4 2022 the Justice Secretary announced plans to reform our policy on the allocation of transgender prisoners. Following Bryson's conviction, Justice Secretary Keith Brown gave his backing to the Scottish Prison Service. It does not store any personal data. A MARRIED female guard at Britain's 'cushiest' prison has avoided jail after having an affair with a dangerous inmate and 'falling in love with him'. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. Any legal changes will also apply to trans-identifying people in prison. For 10 prisons, the only data available was published in 2015. It ultimately led to a review and a change in policy which will see all newly-convicted or remanded transgender prisoners initially placed in jails according to their birth sex. Figure 2: Total number of prisoners covered by the reports used in the study for each of the publication years. Throughout the trial, the court heard that as of 2019 there were 34 trans women in womens prisons in England and Wales, The court also heard that there had been 97 sexual assaults recorded in womens prisons between 2016 and 2019. The graph shows the percentage of the 113 TIMs in each category (red). I am sure that the Governor concerned would be happy to talk about this.. The government figure of 70 trans-identifying people and our own study finding of at least 113 TIMs are therefore likely to be very conservative estimates. Scotland and Northern Ireland. In order to get a GRC, an individual must be over 18, have two separate medical reports from accredited practitioners, be able to prove that they have lived in their acquired gender for at least two years, and must intend to live in this gender for the rest of their life. Any small increases in the number of transfers of trans-identifying males from male prisons would have a disproportionately large impact on the relatively small population of women prisoners. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". Weekly quiz: What was New York's sunset phenomenon called? Three-quarters of trans inmates identified as female, and 80 per cent reported their legal gender as male. They argued that the existing policy discriminated against cisgender women, as the same risk did not exist when trans men are placed in mens prisons. What are the plans for gender reforms in Scotland? These prisons contain prisoners whose escape would be highly dangerous to the public or national security. The full report has not been published but it led to the change in policy on housing newly-convicted and remand prisoners. It is also possible that our use of some prison reports published more that one year ago means that this is not an accurate snapshot. Our results are summarised in this report. By that logic, trans-women could be in protective custody in a womens prison. This means that the number of TIMs counted will only be a minimum estimate. This vulnerable group of women may be forced to share their living space with male-bodied prisoners with a history of violence and/or sexual crimes. The impact on these women must be assessed. There were 97 sexual assaults in womens prisons between 2016 and 2020 seven involved trans prisoners. The Ministry has no responsibility for devolved criminal justice policy, courts, prisons or probation matters in either Scotland or Northern Ireland. The number of transgender prisoners with a certificate is thought to be in single-figures across the prison population as a whole. This prisoner is not thought to have undergone genital reconstruction surgery. More than 90% of transgender women in prison are housed in mens prisons, and most do not request a move to a womens prison. What does transgender mean and what does the law say? However, based on official MoJ statistics we know that only 4% of male prisoners are on sentences of less than 6 months. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? News flash - they already ARE. If self-declaration of gender becomes law, these trans-identifying males will become eligible for transfer to womens prisons. In 2018 Dolatowski sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl in a Kirkcaldy supermarket toilets, and filmed a 12-year-old girl on the toilet at a separate supermarket. Google Universal Analytics long-time unique user tracking identifier. Bryson was initially remanded to Cornton Vale women's prison in Stirling, but has since been moved to a men's jail. Read about our approach to external linking. 30 May 2023 16:28:01 The judges accepted that female prisoners were being asked to give up some of their rights to accommodate males being housed Of the 49 transgender prisoners in female prisons, six were trans women and of the 181 in the male estate, 162 were trans women. British Association of Gender Identity Specialists (BAGIS), Meeting the United Nations Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Males can be lawfully excluded from female-only jobs, Athletics and swimming restore fair competition for women and girls. Receive our latest insights as soon as they are published and get invited to our exclusive events and webinars. If the presence of TIMs (plural) was mentioned, this was counted as two (the minimum number to which it could be referring). However, I feel that trans women who have a history of violence and sexual offending against women should not be in a situation where they can put our safety at risk.. If this is the case, our study may not be representative of the population of TIM inmates as a whole. It is thought to be the first time a trans woman has been convicted of raping women in Scotland. U.S. District Judge Corey L. Maze sentenced 40-year-old Michael Lee Haynes, of Anniston, to 20 years in federal prison. The Ministry of Justice oversees the prison service in England and Wales. Take Action: Say NO to letting Sex Self-ID in through the back door. Bryson made the decision to transition from a man to a woman while awaiting trial. There are currently 13,808 male sex-offender inmates in prison in England and Wales. Based on the current male prisoner population in England and Wales (approximately 80,000), we would therefore expect there to be in the region of 800 TIMs in prison. (modern). 30 May 2023 15:32:59 One is being housed on the female wing of Greenock prison. Two-thirds are in the category C prisons (31) and one-third in category B prisons (15). Under the reforms, transgender women with male genitalia, or those who have been convicted of a sexual offence, should no longer be held in the general womens estate. latest Scottish Prison Service (SPS) statistics, 230 trans prisoners at the last count on 31 March 2022, trans women with male genitalia from female prisons in England and Wales. FDJ said that she was disappointed with the ruling, but added that she was pleased that the court had recognised that many women in prison have been victims of domestic and sexual assault, and recognised women in prison as a vulnerable group. We found no reference to transgender prisoners in any of the three prisons in Northern Ireland. From a male prison population of approximately 130,000 men, a total of 298 TIMs were identified. The new order comes following Justice Secretary Dominic Raabs previous announcement of banning transgender women with male genitalia or who had committed sexual offences in womens prisons.. FDJs lawyers argued that housing trans women in the female prison estate exposes female prisoners to a risk of sexual assault that would not arise absent that allocation.. These changes will ensure a sensitive and common-sense approach to meeting the needs of women in custody, while we continue to ensure that transgender prisoners are appropriately supported in whichever estate they are located in. It is important that the rights of transgender people are balanced carefully against the rights of this vulnerable population of women. Theres a caveat at the end of the new announcement that says: Transgender women prisoners who cannot be safely housed in a mens prison can be imprisoned in a specialist unit.. Concerns were also raised about the case of Tiffany Scott, previously known as a man called Andrew Burns, whose application to move to a women's prison was initially approved.. Scott has a history of violence and is serving an order for lifelong restriction, meaning the prisoner will only be released when no longer considered an "unmanageable risk to public safety". News flash - they already ARE. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt out if you wish. These vastly outnumber the number of prisoners incarcerated for more ordinary, non-sexual, offences. "To many people, it will look like this convicted rapist has gamed the system in order to try and garner sympathy, and to end up in a women's prison," she told Times Radio. The number of trans-identifying males (abbreviated to TIMs hereafter for the purpose of brevity) was recorded for each prison using the most recent available report (IMB or HMIP). Slightly more TIMs are seen in category C prisons than the average rate for males (53 vs 43%). Such strategies in no way affect risk and indeed may increase it. According to their figures, there are 113 transgender women in prison, and 13 of these were housed in female prisons. In many cases, no information regarding trans-identifying inmates was mentioned at all. Of these, it is not known how many of these assaults were committed by either female or male identifying transgender people. The judge ruled barring all trans women from female prisons would ignore their right to live as their chosen gender. The guidance sets out to assist Parole Board members in achieving equality of outcome for prisoners who are transgender and to provide a definition of relevant These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Repeat offending is more likely among sex offenders who have paraphilias (see study here). strongly disagrees. See Figure 10. One hundred trans-identifying males are housed in male prisons, of whom 13 have been transferred to womens prisons. But within days Ms Sturgeon confirmed Bryson would not remain in a women's prison. From these, we can identify 69 TIMs, of whom 37 are convicted sex offenders. (2011), who showed that TIMs exhibited male-pattern criminality for violent crimes. One notable case of transgender sexual violence in female prisons occurred when convicted rapist Karen White, born Stephen Wood, sexually assaulted several female inmates after being transferred to a womens prison after claiming to be transgender. This isnt exactly right: latest figures for England and Wales show there are 49 transgender prisoners across the female prison estate. Rape Crisis Scotland said that when deciding where to place any convicted sex offender, the priority had to be the safety of other women prisoners. While it is unknown if any were committed by trans prisoners without a GRC, the number of trans prisoners without a GRC across all prisons is thought to be in the single digits. Similarly, of the 129 transgender prisoners in mens prisons, 0 identified as male. There were 97 sexual assaults in womens prisons between 2016 and 2020 seven involved trans prisoners. A new 85m women's prison, built as a campus with no overt security on show, will open in Stirling this summer. Despite the lack of a more complete data set, it is clear that the prevalence of sex offenders amongst the trans-identifying male prison population is at least as high as that of male offenders. This will also apply to transgender women who have been convicted of a sex offence.. The court also heard from expert panels throughout the trial, which are involved in the process of allocating transgender prisoners. He suggested that the use of specialist cells could be increased to further protect women in prison. She is often used to represent trans women generally, and indicate that they will always be a threat to cis women. Trans rights protesters have interrupted a talk being given at the Oxford Union by a feminist who campaigns for women's single sex spaces. ", A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "We are pleased the court agrees that the way we manage transgender offenders strikes the right balance between protecting their legal rights and ensuring the safety of all prisoners.". None of these are in the eight sex-offender prisons, so it cannot be inferred whether or not they are sex offenders. It is the latest scandal at HMP Berwyn, a 250million Category C adult male prison Credit: Getty. Figure 9 shows the distribution of TIMs in the category A prisons. British Cycling is to ban transgender women from the female category of its competitions following a nine-month review and consultation. This tallies with anecdotal reports from both gender professionals and prisoners themselves. Addressing 300 people at the Oxford Union last night, the feminist professor also called for funding for third gender-neutral spaces to ensure the safety of trans women and women. Ministers have insisted that the Bryson case is not connected to the recent Gender Recognition Reform Bill, which has not yet been enacted and has been blocked from becoming law by the UK government. In reality the process is slow, bureaucratic and rarely successful. Addressing 300 people at the Oxford Union last night, the feminist professor also called for funding for third gender-neutral spaces to ensure the safety of trans women and women.