Female prisoners in Scotland

[BovaryX]

SNP Kenneth Gibson asks if female prisoners shower with anatomical males.

I have been advised by our recently retired governor that there is at least one female prison where anatomically male prisoners and female prisoners are expected to shower together,” Mr Gibson told the Chamber. “Can you advise on whether or not that is the case?

The Justice Minister's response? He 'doesn't know the answer' to that question. Meanwhile, Sturgeon says as a 'lifelong feminist' it's important to protect trans rights.

When did anyone ever fret about women prisoners not getting enough to do ffs

Wasn’t there some guy from prison service involved in writing guidance later found in possession of child abuse images ?

Yes I think so, I don't have much battery and out all day but I will dig it out later if no one posts it first.

That article is ridiculous. My teeth grind involuntarily every time these biological males are referred to as "women". I've got the perfect solution for them to make it more social and interesting for them. They could put non GRC holding males who identify as women and are classified as posing a threat to other prisoners in there.

Given that posing a threat to other prisoners appears to be the main criteria for whether you are sent to this unit or a female prison if you have a GRC. What are the odds in a few thousand males in the UK (less than 1% of the trans population of both sexes which altogether is estimated at 1% of the population as a whole) with a GRC of 3 of them being dangerous prisoners, eh?

The point about threat means that all the focus remains on the male-bodied prisoners. What they want and their history of violence/assault etc. Still no consideration of the impact on the female-bodied prisoners, is that right? They just don't have a voice here. Doesn't matter, I presume, what they want or the impact on them or how they feel.

Because if a female prisoner objects to male-bodied people in their accommodation it's transphobia.

But if a male-bodied transwoman objects to being in men's prison they have a committee to check it's okay before moving them.

Eresh it would honestly probably be quicker to just list the agencies and people involved in training, policy writing and government advice in this area who have not turned out to have some highly dodgy skeletons in their closet, or in some case, openly dancing around on fb.

Not to mention the incestuousness in 3rd sector jobs at this level where the same small pool of people from said posts and agencies and including many such individuals just move between jobs, which has played a key part in enabling policy capture and regulatory shift to the benefit of such behaviours.

Agreed about the article. Didn't want to paste and run but that was all I had time for. I hadn't read it and just wanted to add it to the thread.

Missed the meeting but know Rhona would have been amazing.

Top story in the Scottish section of the Sunday Times today:

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/scots-trans-law-is-threat-to-women-says-ex-head-of-prison-snv7zwpmd?shareToken=d37d230f85dfe66f81a87bea19be1b74

HM Prisons Inspectorate Survey 2019 estimated 2% of male prisoners identify as transwomen - so there is a good argument already for special provision in the rest of the UK for transwomen who Self-ID (the ones with GRCs are counted as "women" not as "transgender").

According to HM Chief Inspector of Prisons’ Annual Report for 2018-19,

"a survey of 5,133 adult male prisoners found that 2 per cent self-identified as transgender which extrapolated across jails would mean about 1,500.

Transgender prisoners are entitled to shower alone, have separate cells and can apply to switch between male and female prisons."

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/5b445d82-b175-11e9-9df9-ac98825b867a

It has been suggested that a disproportionate number have been convicted of sexual offences. It is in everyone's interests to know whether or not there is any truth in this.

The only way to find out is to have accurate recording of the biological sex and transgender status of perpetrators - just as is already in place for victims.

The other interesting finding from that survey is that men who identify as "Travellers" are both most likely to report that they are victims of bullying and also most likely to identify as transgender. It is not hard to imagine that claiming to be trans might be code for, "Get me out of here!!"

Oh! And do we need to add to that number the sex offenders who are being doped with anti-androgens by the Prison Service, who grow breasts and then decide they are women? That process seems to be counter to the usual "born in the wrong body" trans narrative but apparently they are to be considered just as much legit trans as anyone else.

Igneo

Thank you for posting that. Bev Jackson calls proposed changes to GRA in Scotland deeply homophobic and the most dangerous piece of legislation to be tabled in the UK in years.

At a meeting in Oran Mor, a venue in the city’s West End, they were addressed by a Scottish woman who went through the process of transitioning from a girl to a boy, including surgery, in her early twenties. The woman — who wished to remain anonymous — said she deeply regrets her decision and described how she was fast-tracked through the Scottish system and given minimal medical or psychiatric help. “If I wasn’t ready then and was given no meaningful counselling about the dangers under the present process, then why on earth would the Scottish government contemplate lowering the age of gender recognition to 16? This change alone will lead to hundreds of kids making profound mistakes that will haunt them for the rest of their lives