In March 2019, the Ministry of Justice started to develop specialist accommodation (known as E-wing) for some trans women in HMP Downview, a women’s prison. This statement is an update on that made in March 2019 and updated in July 2020, responding to further developments to the broader issue of transgender women and men in the prison system, particularly women’s prisons, and community-based women’s spaces.
The statement covers 6 key areas:
-
Why Women in Prison exists: Harms of imprisonment & replacing a broken system
-
Supporting individuals, safety and wellbeing
-
Prisons duties to support gender identity, privacy and dignity
-
Managing and balancing risk
-
Nothing about us without us: Consulting trans individuals and women in prison
-
Specialist support services for women and transgender prisoners
Women in Prison does not comment on individual cases.
You can download the full statement from www.womeninprison.org.uk/news/2020-statement-on-transgender-individuals-in-prison
NB this is from the end of last year, but thought I would post as I dont think it has been referenced elsewhere.
From their web site:
Women in Prison (WIP) is a national charity that delivers support for women affected by the criminal justice system in prisons, in the community and through our Women's Centres. We campaign to end the harm caused to women, their families and our communities by imprisonment.
Our mission
Our Vision is for a new system of justice that addresses the root causes of offending (including poverty, mental ill health, harmful substance use, homelessness and experiences of trauma and abuse) in communities; that delivers alternatives to prison through a network of women’s centres and provides services available to every woman who requires support in facing numerous and complex challenges.
Our Mission is to persuade decision-makers to radically reduce the women’s prison population, by demonstrating how a focus on human rights, social justice, health and investment in specialist community support services, including Women’s Centres, enables women to move forward with their lives. To promote the development of communities where small therapeutic secure units replace prisons for the small number of women whose offending and risk to the public require custody.
www.womeninprison.org.uk/about/our-mission