Transwomen & prison

[MeltsAway]

Can any one help me out here?

Ages ago - probably several years, I remember reading a thread on Twitter which gave links to evidenced publication of the experiences & knowledge of psychiatrists and other expert health care professionals, looking at the current wave of male sex offenders claiming transgender status in prisons.

It was evidence-based and showed that many of these claims were about getting access to women in the female prison estate, as well as the 'easier' time female inmates have.

I think (but I could be misremembering) that the study was sponsored by that prison reform group (whose name I can't remember ...)

Sorry this is so vague, but does anyone remember seeing this information? It was pretty damning about the current trend for transition in male prisoners, who are often sex offenders.

Just bumping. This rings a bell with me too, I'm sure I've read the same thing.

I hope our resident encyclopaedia R0wan might be able to help with this one. She's on fire with the receipts for stuff like this.

This? twitter.com/richardjgarside/status/1191084013567533063?s=21

I don't think this is exactly what you're looking for, but might be relevant. It's from Dr. James Barrett, President of the British Association of Gender Identity Specialists, in his evidence to the Parliamentary Transgender Equality Inquiry in 2015.

The converse is the ever-increasing tide of referrals of patients in prison serving long or indeterminate sentences for serious sexual offences. These vastly outnumber the number of prisoners incarcerated for more ordinary, non-sexual, offences. It has been rather naïvely suggested that nobody would seek to pretend transsexual status in prison if this were not actually the case. There are, to those of us who actually interview the prisoners, in fact very many reasons why people might pretend this. These vary from the opportunity to have trips out of prison through to a desire for a transfer to the female estate (to the same prison as a co-defendant) through to the idea that a parole board will perceive somebody who is female as being less dangerous through to a [false] belief that hormone treatment will actually render one less dangerous through to wanting a special or protected status within the prison system and even (in one very well evidenced case that a highly concerned Prison Governor brought particularly to my attention) a plethora of prison intelligence information suggesting that the driving force was a desire to make subsequent sexual offending very much easier, females being generally perceived as low risk in this regard. I am sure that the Governor concerned would be happy to talk about this.

data.parliament.uk/WrittenEvidence/CommitteeEvidence.svc/EvidenceDocument/Women%20and%20Equalities/Transgender%20Equality/written/19532.html

Yes I thought the same from OP's description.

This is not what you asked for OP but some of the most useful contributions have come from Heather Mason about the sitaution in Canada (dire, unsurprisingly):

Other useful contributions have come from Rhona Hotchkiss, twitter.com/HotchkissRhona

I think the group you’re referring to is the Howard League (Frances Crook is the name I associate but I can’t remember title)

yes, thank you! What a brilliant nest of vipers. Can we post links to the info thread, as I think they're excellent resources for us.

Fairplay For Women
'Sex attacks: MPs must investigate risks of transgender prisoners'
13th May 2019

(extract)
"Senior figures in the criminal justice system have been warning of those dangers for some time and FPFW said MPs can no longer ignore the evidence.

Others who have expressed concern include:

Andrea Albutt, president of the Prison Governors Association said in June 2018: “I have seen women feeling very threatened by transgender prisoners’ presence. Women prisoners are very vulnerable.”

Frances Crook of the Howard League, a prison reform campaign, has said that she is worried that ‘some men with a history of extreme violence and sexual violence against women have found a new way of exercising aggression towards women’.

The British Psychological Society has said this: “psychologists working with forensic patients are aware of a number of cases where men convicted of sex crimes have falsely claimed to be transgender females for a number of reasons”

Dr James Barrett of the British Association of Gender Identity Specialists has said this: “It has been rather naïvely suggested that nobody would seek to pretend transsexual status in prison if this were not actually the case. There are, to those of us who actually interview the prisoners, in fact very many reasons why people might pretend this” (continues)
fairplayforwomen.com/sex-attacks-mps-must-investigate-risks-of-transgender-prisoners/

In 2018 Fairplay For Women petitioned, "the government to urgently review prison rules following the sexual assault of two women while in prison by rapist Karen White."

there are a series useful of links embedded in the article

fairplayforwomen.com/petition/

NB This petition long closed so exists only as important record and source.

When people say why are we so bothered about the issue of men changing their names and identities, this is the key reason. The evidence for our fury is there as evidence but no one seems to be changing it. How can we effectively do more on this?

How can we effectively do more on this?

I think this is the point to push:

27th February 2021 Mail on Sunday
'Thousands of sex criminals could be working with children – after changing their names for just £15, warns former Home Secretary Sajid Javid
Ex-Home Secretary Sajid Javid calls for changes to tackle child sexual abuse
900 convicted sex offenders have paid £15 to change their names by deed poll
He calls for school nurse revival to make it easier for children to report abuse
(extract)
"Thousands of sex offenders could be working with children because they have changed their names by deed poll to escape detection, according to a hard-hitting new report by former Home Secretary Sajid Javid." (continues)

Alarmingly, the report says at least 900 convicted sex offenders – and possibly thousands – could be operating in jobs that bring them into contact with young people because they have taken the simple expedient of paying £15 to change their names by deed poll.

At no stage is an applicant required to disclose their criminal history – which the report recommends should change.

It says the current stipulation that those on the sex offenders register must tell the police if they change their names within three days of doing so ‘is essentially an honours system with the onus on the individual to keep the police up to date… over 900 offenders may have changed their names without notifying the police and are now living under the radar’

The report adds that as the 900 offenders ‘only represent data released by 16 of the 43 police forces’ then ‘it is likely then that the actual figure is far higher and thousands of registered sex offenders are off the radar.

‘The worst-case scenario outcome is not unfeasible: that some of this number have acquired fresh names and are working or living alongside children. We must locate these individuals and safeguard children they may have access to. We recommend the Home Office commissions an urgent inquiry into this matter.’ (continues)
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9410099/Thousands-sex-criminals-working-children-changing-names-warns-Sajid-Javid.html

In appears inevitable that some convicted male sexual offenders will change not only their name, but the sex marker on passport / driving licence and even their birth certificate (via GRC).

See recent thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/a4208155-The-Times-Law-section-Thursday-1st-April-Trans-judge-wants-a-more-diverse-judiciary

@Thecatonthemat

When people say why are we so bothered about the issue of men changing their names and identities, this is the key reason. The evidence for our fury is there as evidence but no one seems to be changing it. How can we effectively do more on this?

Have a look at keep-prisons-single-sex.org.uk. There’s a What can I do? section for UK visitors and there are some suggestions for people in Australia, Canada & the US in the international section.