THE TRANS COMMUNITY IN PRISON

Trans people in prison

Trans people in the UK continue to face very high rates of abuse and inequality. Stonewall reports that 2 in 5 trans people “have experienced a hate crime or incident because of their gender identity in the last 12 months”.

For trans young people, Stonewall found that “more than 4 in 5 (83%) have experienced name-calling or verbal abuse; 3 in 5 (60%) have experienced threats and intimidation; and more than a third (35%) have experienced physical assault”.

The experience of discrimination remains true for the trans population in prisons in England and Wales. Within our own work, we have supported people who are trans and have seen some of the difficulties and challenges they have faced.

INSIDE PRISONS

The population of transgender people in prisons is hard to calculate with the true number likely to be higher than is recorded. Official statistics of the number of trans people in prison were first recorded as of 2016. Some of the latest figures from the 2018/2019 Offender Equalities Annual Report state that:

  • 62 of 121 public & private prisons (51%) in England and Wales said that they had 1 or more transgender prisoner.

  • There were 163 prisoners currently living in, or presenting in, a gender different to their sex assigned at birth and who have had a local transgender case board.

  • Based on [their collected data], there were 2 transgender prisoners reported per 1,000 prisoners in custody.

Although the trans prison population are a small minority of the overall prison estate, the justice system has a duty to respect and protect all people within it.

POLICY

In the last decade or so, the Prison and Probation service has put various policies and reforms in place to meet the needs of the trans community in prison. These changes came about largely as a result of the public pressuring authorities to ensure that those in prison identifying as trans are treated with fairness, dignity and respect.

In 2011 the ‘Care and Management of Transsexual Prisoners’ Instruction had set out guidelines for the treatment of trans people in prison. For example, allowing name changes and for trans individuals to live as their preferred gender.

However, inconsistencies in the Instruction’s implementation denied some individuals the right to wear appropriate clothing and access to medical treatment. Its ruling that “prisoners must be located according to their gender as recognised under UK law” was another problem, making the legality of gender status the determining factor, rendering trans people who have not made legal changes to their gender invisible.

TRANSGENDER EQUALITY

Policy revision was already underway in 2015 by the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), with the Government acknowledging the “growing need for the Ministry of Justice and its Ministers to have a better understanding of the transgender population in prisons”. But the Women and Equalities Committee's 2016 report, ‘Transgender Equality’, was key in shifting its focus.

Their chapter on Prison and Probation Services sheds light on the inequalities and prejudiced treatment experienced by the trans community in prison, highlighting the “clear risk of harm” in instances when “trans prisoners are not located in a prison or other setting appropriate to their acquired / affirmed gender”.

“While the safety and welfare of all offenders is paramount”, it reads, “caring for and managing trans offenders appropriately is crucial.”

POLICY REVISION

The results of the Ministry of Justice’s review were published in November 2016 in a report entitled ‘The Care and Management of Transgender Offenders’. It gained traction after the deaths of two transgender people in prison created widespread media attention, and a public petition ensured the transfer of a transgender woman from a male prison to a prison for women.

Significantly, the revised policy gave instruction that all “transgender offenders (irrespective of prison location) must be allowed to express the gender with which they identify”.

A review of this publication acknowledges the ways in which leading authorities had been too slow to make these revisions"

“From the evidence received and the conversations held as part of the review, it is apparent that the treatment of transgender people in courts, probation and prison services has not kept pace with the development of a more general understanding of the issues surrounding gender in society.”

CHANGE

The journey of policy change that has taken place over the last decade indicates some of the complexity of the situation that those running prisons in the UK are tasked with reconciling.

There are many voices expressing opposing views over where to place those in the prison population identifying as trans, with concerns raised about the mental health and safety implications of accepting or denying an individual’s right to live in a prison that corresponds with their lived identity.

What remains absolutely clear, though, is the need to respect someone according to the gender in which they identify, and provide appropriate and specialised support services for them both in prison and in the community.

WHAT NEXT?

Read Catch 22's article "The Challenges of Being Transgender in Prison".

Check out the work of the Bent Bars Project! It’s a letter-writing project that connects LGBTQ+ people in UK prisons with LGBTQ+ pen-pals on the outside. They also collect, produce and distribute resources for LGBTQ+ people in prison.

Support projects like Stonewall and the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies who make sure the rights of trans people are kept on the Government's agenda.