Violent trans offenders not to be housed in women’s prisons in England, Wales

London: All transgender women charged with violent crimes will be barred from female prisons in England and Wales. The new order comes following Justice Secretary Dominic Raab’s previous announcement of banning transgender women with male genitalia or who had committed sexual offences in women’s prisons. Under the new rules, transgender criminals charged with sexual assaults and also those jailed for violence will no longer be held at female prisons across England and Wales. Raab told Sky News, “We want to have a liberal, sensitive, tolerant approach to the LGBT community as a whole and in particular the trans community who suffer a lot in this country and have high levels of challenges.” “Where you’ve got trans women offenders, the question is whether they go to the female prison estate – I think we need to be really clear about protecting the other female offenders,” he added. The new rules will be applied from next week and will also apply to all transgender women with male genitalia regardless of a gender recognition certificate. Exemptions will be made only in exceptional cases which would require the approval of ministers. Why are trans women banned from female prisons? The rule of barring transgender women completely from all-women prisons has come following the controversy in Scotland surrounding Isla Bryson, a transgender prisoner who was convicted of raping two women before transitioning. She was initially held at the all-female prison of Corton Vale but due to an outcry and intervention by the then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Bryson was moved to a male facility last month. At the time, Sturgeon said, “Bryson would not be incarcerated in the women’s prison either short term or long term.” “The Scottish Prison Service is in the process of giving effect to the decision it has taken not to incarcerate this prisoner in Cornton Vale,” said Sturgeon. How is Scotland’s approach different from Scotland? In England and Wales, until now, transgender women were only allowed to be held in female jails if the Complex Case Board deems it safe to do so. Meanwhile in Scotland, a self-declared gender identity would put a transgender woman in a female prison unless concerns are flagged about possible risks to safety. In Bryson’s case, at the time of her arrest, she was kept in segregation while an initial multi-disciplinary case conference was carried out, according to The Guardian. Scotland toughened its prison rules following a case in 2018 where a transgender woman, Karen White, sexually assaulted her fellow prisoners. Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.