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Original poster

Jonathon Swift / Jennifer Swift

29 replies

PersianCatLady · 18/12/2017 21:35

I just saw in the DM (sorry) that at an inquest it was revealed that a transwoman, Jennifer Swift, committed suicide in prison because "she" wasn't allowed to go to a women's prison -
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5191879/Transgender-prisoner-entered-suicide-pact.html

When the crime that led to "her" being imprisoned was first reported, "she" was referred to as Jonathon Swift -
www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/seaforth-suspect-could-face-murder-12345778

There will now be discussions about whether HMPS should have done more to protect "her" as she was in a men's prison.

Personally I think that more emphasis should be put on feeling sympathy for the family of the man "she" murdered.

However my main concern is that if the proposed changes to the GRA go ahead then transwomen like Jenny would have an automatic right to be sent to women's prisons to be housed alongside some of the most vulnerable women in society.

Am I wrong to feel like this??

OP posts:
Original poster
PersianCatLady · 18/12/2017 21:51

self-administering hormones by buying them online has got to be dangerous and should be stopped
Exactly.

If I smoke crack everyday and get sent to prison, my crack supply would officially stop.

Why would the illegal use of any drug, even hormones, be any different??

OP posts:
ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 18/12/2017 21:50

I would argue that whether or not the individual in question is transgender is pretty irrelevant - this is the priblem:

Auditors said that self-harm incidents increased by 73% between 2012 and 2016 to 40,161, while the 120 self-inflicted deaths in prison in 2016 was the highest figure on record and almost double that for 2012

www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jun/29/suicide-and-self-harm-in-prisons-hit-worst-ever-levels

And, IMO males should not be placed in a woman's prison ever, no matter how they identify.

Original poster
PersianCatLady · 18/12/2017 21:49

Jonathan was on remand, not convicted, so innocent until proven guilty
Yes, you are right.

Where I put this in my OP -
"Personally I think that more emphasis should be put on feeling sympathy for the family of the man "she" murdered"

I should have said -
"Personally I think that more emphasis should be put on feeling sympathy for the family of the man "she" is alleged to have murdered"

OP posts:
OlennasWimple · 18/12/2017 21:46

Interesting article. A few thoughts

  • Jonathan was on remand, not convicted, so innocent until proven guilty
  • self-administering hormones by buying them online has got to be dangerous and should be stopped
  • it's probably a safe assumption that Paris, the friend and Diversity Champion, quoted in the article is also a transwoman. And the "suicide pact" description suggests that there were two other transwomen there as well. So the jail seems to have been the right place for Jonathan to have been held: with other transwomen
  • the devil would be in the detail of the legislation, whether transwomen would automatically be put in a women's prison: it would be possible to create an exemption for things such as prisons (which is something that I will be pushing for, if a draft bill is ever published)
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