Excellent new article from lawyer Julian Norman

[justicewomen]

www.counselmagazine.co.uk/articles/gender-recognition-self-id-and-next-steps

Julian is a barrister at Drystone Chambers. Her main practice is in immigration law with a particular interest in Article 8 HRA. She is a trustee of FiLiA, a women’s rights charity.

A very well reasoned argument

That's a really helpful argument. Useful to send to MPs etc.

Good article, thanks for sharing.

Excellent, thanks Julian.

'No statistics can capture the discomfort of women in being expected to endorse a belief that woman is a perception and not a reality. ' -- so true.

THis is a great article.

Only a week after White’s conviction, a paedophile serving an IPP sentence for grooming female teenagers was moved to HMPYOI Peterborough.
I had missed this completely, was this discussed on MN?

Very cogent and unemotional article. I particularly liked the rebuttal of the argument "this won't affect the equalities act". Of course it will! The equalities act works with "male" and "female" which, to my understanding, are allocated with reference to the GRA. Please correct me if I'm wrong on my understanding of this.

"Only a week after White’s conviction, a paedophile serving an IPP sentence for grooming female teenagers was moved to HMPYOI Peterborough".

Looks like Shaun Pudwell (now Michelle Lewin) here, convicted of sexual offences against 12 and 13 year old girls.

www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/jail-pervert-who-prowled-net-1505580

Coverage of the move to the women's prison.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6179341/Outrage-transgender-child-groomer-legally-female-womens-jail.html

Some info about the prison:

www.cpft.nhs.uk/services/Prison%20In%20Reach%20-%20HMP-YOI%20Peterborough

"HMP and Young Offenders Institution Peterborough has 1008 places and is the country’s only dual-purpose-built prison for both men and women. The genders are separated and never mix.

Latest inspection raises fear for safety of women:

Latest inspection report

"This is a more mixed report than when we last inspected this prison. We were particularly concerned about safety, and this is the first women’s prison in several years to have been assessed as ‘not sufficiently good’ in this area".

The prison also has a 12-place mother-and-baby unit, plus 34 places for young female offenders.

But I'm sure that putting in a convicted paedophile (who is on an IPP sentence for public safety) will result in no problems.

Nope.

So did this paedohile start and finish their transition in prison courtesy of the taxpayer?
No questions were asked?
And now they're in a women's prison with a mother and baby unit?
And the Ministry of Justice have facilitated the whole charade?

Funny how all of this is facilitated by the establishment, funded by an unwilling public with the results then foisted on society. And nobody in government ever raises a word of concern?

That was excellent, thanks justicewomen.
I hadn't seen the Peterborough story either.
Women in prison really are bottom of the heap in terms of safeguarding, with a male sex offender's (I think I can say that because he was a man legally when this happened) gender wishes trumping their need for safety, dignity and protection.
How does this happen? Like you said sceptical, where are all the cries of concern for the vulnerable female prison population from our law makers?

I like the distinction it makes between the likelihood of a transgender person being a sex offender (very low) and the likelihood of somebody imprisoned for a sex offense identifying as transgender (looking at available data relatively high).

No statistics can capture the discomfort of women in being expected to endorse a belief that woman is a perception and not a reality.

Hear, hear.

Well written and considered article thank you.
Noting the other contributions.