Garside on Why Justice Secretary is wrong to say Karen White was implementation, not policy, failure

[arranfan]

Richard Garside is excellent and clear-sighted, yet again - why can't we have more of this sort of informed commentary:

The Justice Secretary also says that White's placement was not the result of a 'systemic failure': i.e. the policy was fine; the problem was implementation. I hope this is not a signal that the review of what happened is just going to be a scapegoating exercise. /4
But in any case, the thing is there is, in my view, a systemic failure issue here. White was remanded to prison, awaiting trial for a knife assault on a male neighbour. /5
While in prison, rape offences White committed in 2003 and 2016 came to light. However, at the point White was sent to New Hall women's prison, he had not been charged, never mind convicted, of any of these offences. /6
It is therefore reasonable to assume that the prison board that decided to send White to New Hall was not informed of these offences. This lack of knowledge of a male prisoner's sexual offending history is the norm, not the exception. /7

The whole thing is worth reading but that last line above makes my hair stand on end.

Thread reader version: threadreaderapp.com/thread/1053288415733653506.html

twitter.com/RichardJGarside/status/1053288415733653506

I'm so glad someone out there is on top of this shit. Will he be listened to though?

Richard !

Transgender prisoners have a right to be respected in their choices and to feel safe. But it should not be at the expense of women prisoners being asked to share their spaces. The Prison Service should develop distinct provision for transgender prisoners.

Third space NOW!

Borrowing your links from another thread, heresyandwitchcraft

Let's remember that Fair Play for Women has a petition to review the rules around transgender prisoner allocation.

Discussed on this MN thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/petitions_noticeboard/3392617-New-Petition-re-Prisons-in-respect-of-Self-ID

man with brain !!

fuckin hell, shocking that basic common sense and consideration for women locked up with male offenders is (utterly cruel and retraumatising) seems to be thinking out side the box.

thats it women, in the UK now, get sent to prison for shoplifting we lock you inside with a rapist.

I mean White isn't the first that has done this lest we forget Jessica Winfield aka Martin Ponting the 2 time child rapist who had to be segregated for making sexual advances www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4856268/Transgender-rapist-moved-women-jail-segregated.html

If there are approx 25 trans women in female jails without GRCs (unsure if Winfield has a GRC) and at least 2 of them have done this when transferred then its a policy failure. Anything which is letting rapists mix with vulnerable women is a policy failure

This lack of knowledge of a male prisoner's sexual offending history is the norm, not the exception

The prison authorities know that the majority of sexual assaults do not result in a prosecution, it's impossible for them to accurately assess the risk of sexual assault.

The whole ‘case by case basis’ principal depends on these decisions being made not just by prison review boards but YHA hostel managers, guide leaders, and refuge staff. How on earth are they supposed to not only gather relevant information, but also make such a judgement under pressure?

It's not just that they won't know about previous crimes that didn't result in a conviction -

"Another reason relates to the profile of women prisoners. Most women in prison are survivors of often grotesque male sexual violence and other forms of male violence. /11

Having agency and choice about which men you associate with, and under what circumstances, is very important for sexual violence survivors. Women in prison have no agency, no choice, about who else is in the prison with them. /12

Is it reasonable - regardless of the objective threat a male prisoner claiming to be a woman might pose - to tell women prisoners that they have to share their spaces with prisoners they, quite reasonably, see as men? It will obviously be retraumatising for many of them. /13

Transgender prisoners have a right to be respected in their choices and to feel safe. But it should not be at the expense of women prisoners being asked to share their spaces. The Prison Service should develop distinct provision for transgender prisoners. I hope they do so. END"

It would be interesting to know how many assaults have been committed against transwomen prisoners in male prisons.

There’s no excuse for putting vulnerable trans people at risk of violence, but a separate space should accommodate them, rather than place them in women’s prisons.

I presume having men who identify as women in prison is not a recent phenomena so where is the information on how they fare? There are a lot of vulnerable males in prison, they don’t get the right to transfer. We know already of the assaults and harassment women have suffered since rapists have been jailed with them- what are the stats for treatment of trans prisoners in men’s prisons? How great is the threat? Why isn’t a third space the logical solution, to protect all?

I presume having men who identify as women in prison is not a recent phenomena so where is the information on how they fare?...How great is the threat? Why isn’t a third space the logical solution, to protect all?

All fine questions. Why don't we have data collection and monitoring that would allow us to answer these? Oh, that would be because of the privacy conflict trumping the right to formulate policy that is based on hard data and evidence...

Having agency and choice about which men you associate with, and under what circumstances, is very important for sexual violence survivors.

This is key. And not just for people in prison.