Andy Burnham tackles prison crisis by putting men in women’s prisons despite trans rules
Andy Burnham (Getty Images)
Some male prisoners will be housed in women’s prisons as part of UK prime minister Andy Burnham’s plan to tackle prison overcrowding, despite heavy restrictions on trans women being held in women’s prisons.
The UK prison system is currently under severe stress as a result of overcrowding, but Burnham has used his first few months in Downing Street attempting to fix the crisis.
According to the Standard, Burnham said that the new plan includes “making greater use of the entire prison estate including using the female estate for male offenders”.
He added that he is “increasingly confident” that this will mean the number of prisoners being released early will be reduced. However, he also said that some prisoners will not need to serve their full sentences to prevent the prison system from “collapsing”.
The news comes amid restrictions on trans prisoners being housed in prisons that align with their gender identity, and just months after a Scottish court ruled that prisons in the country must remove trans women prisoners from female prisons.
In June, Judge Lady Ross ruled that prison guidance allowing some trans prisoners to be held in jails matching their gender identity, rather than their sex at birth, was unlawful. She said sex segregation in prisons must be based on biological sex.
The challenge was brought by campaign group For Women Scotland, which argued only those who were assigned female at birth should be held in the women’s estate.
In the rest of the UK, almost all trans women prisoners are housed in men’s prisons with a few exceptions.
According to the UK government website, published in February 2023, “transgender women who are sentenced to custody in the future will not be held in the general women’s estate if they retain male genitalia or have been convicted of a violent or sexual offence – unless in the most exceptional cases.”
It continues: “Exemptions will be considered for those currently held in the women’s estate who are assessed as low-risk.”
It states that more than 90 percent of trans women are housed in men’s prisons, and that there is “currently no obligation to place a transgender prisoner according to their preference, and where individuals are held is based purely on risk.”
“However, the government has decided to take this further step as an additional measure to protect women,” it continues. “Transgender women prisoners who cannot be safely housed in a men’s prison can be imprisoned in a specialist unit.”
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