Half of all male prisoners in Scotland who identify as women have been transferred to women's jails

[jadefinch]

And only one of them even has a Gender Recognition Certificate.

Professor Asteriti submitted a Freedom Of Information request and this is the response. It's still only a small number of prisoners - although a significant amount - but we know that this is a trend that has started to explode in recent months, we know from Rhona Hotchkiss (former Scottish prison governor) that every time this happens it causes all sorts of problems for vulnerable female inmates (even beyond obvious physical and sexual issues) and now we know that the prison service doesn't even care if you have a GRC - if you say you're trans there's a one in two chance you'll get transferred.

Did the three males who dis-identified as trans do so after a negative risk assessment for transfer to the female estate? I think that figure needs following up.

That's a good question WhatKaty. Or for that matter, were they put in female prisons for a period and then decided they "were actually men after all" once they'd been in with the women for a while?

(I've wondered this with regards to schools too - what happens if one of the boys who the girls have been forced to accept in their changing rooms etc as "one of them" decides they're actually still a boy really? Or wants to desist but then feels he can't for that reason?).

That is a very very interesting question whatkaty (although the idiot SPS would probably say it proves they don’t transfer the ones that aren’t “really” trans )

A friend's daughter is a prison officer who has worked in both the male and female estates.

She told me that after word got around that men could access women's prisons, even if just for a short trip out, the numbers claiming to be a woman rocketed. The chance to have a break from the usual routine and ideally a minimum few weeks' 'holiday' with a chance to see lots of women / ideally get to see some naked / possibly get laid or at least a quick grope, is well worth pursuing. There are no down-sides to this plan for the men concerned.

She told me that it was ridiculously obvious that the men were opportunists and not one had claimed to be transgender, previously.

Can't every male prisoner now claim discrimination on the basis of sex if they don't get transferred? Without a GRC those transwomen are still legally male.

I don't think they've actually answered the first question, have they? The question asks how many transmen are held in the male estate. They answer that there is 1 transman held in Scottish prisons, but do not specify whether they are in a male or female prison... without clarification, I'd be surprised if they are in the male estate?

Is this genuine? The reply contains so many spelling and grammatical errors and weird capitalisation it doesn't look like something produced by a civil servant.

It is also missing all logos, signatory, contact address.

Blackberry gin - Do you know if your friends daughter is expected to carry out body searches on transwomen?

I don't think they've actually answered the first question, have they? The question asks how many transmen are held in the male estate. They answer that there is 1 transman held in Scottish prisons, but do not specify whether they are in a male or female prison... without clarification, I'd be surprised if they are in the male estate?

It is possible this could be linked to issues with potentially identifying people who hold a GRC.
Hypothetically if a female with a GRC was held in male prison estate it could not be in the general accommodation.
There have always been facilities to enable a female to be housed in male estate though this was for very high risk prisoners that female estate could not accomodate.