(LONDON) The Scottish government announced on Sunday the suspension of the transfer of any transgender person detained with a history of violence against women, including sexual, to a women’s prison and ordered an “urgent” review of current practices.
This decision comes after two emblematic cases created strong reactions. But, insisted Scottish Justice Minister Keith Brown, it is unrelated to a recent Gender Change Bill passed by the Scottish Parliament, the entry into force of which was blocked by London.
Explaining that he understood the emotion in public opinion, Scottish Justice Minister Keith Brown said he hoped the measures announced on Sunday would “reassure the prison service’s ability to […] ensure the safety” of all detainees.
“We must not allow the idea that trans women pose an inherent threat to women,” he insisted, “It’s predatory men who are a risk to women,” he said. he added, “Like any group in society, a small number of transgender women will commit offenses and be incarcerated.” Transgender people make up 0.2% of Scotland’s prison population, he said.
According to British media, Tiffany Scott, a transgender woman held in indefinite detention because she was considered a risk to public safety, particularly after having harassed a 13-year-old girl from her cell by sending her letters, had obtained her next transfer to a women’s prison.
Another transgender inmate, Isla Bryson, was convicted on Tuesday of raping two women in 2016 and 2019 before she transitioned to female. First incarcerated in a women’s prison awaiting a decision on her sentence, she was eventually transferred to a men’s institution.
These cases come as London recently blocked a law passed in Scotland to facilitate the recognition of gender change, allowing it without medical advice and from the age of 16.
These measures are criticized in particular by certain feminist activists who see it as a way for sexual predators to access places reserved for women, despite the guarantees provided for by the text.
Rishi Sunak’s government argued that such a law would cause “significant complications by creating two gender recognition regimes within the UK”.
But the independence government of Nicola Sturgeon accused him of instrumentalizing this sensitive subject for political ends against the independence majority, while LGBTQ + activists had regretted the blocking of London.