The Scottish Prison Service has announced a new policy that will require males who have committed violence against females to be placed in men’s prisons, regardless of which gender they identify with.
The new rule, which will go into effect on February 24, 2024, represents a departure from the existing policy, which since 2014 has allowed men who identify as women to be placed in women’s prisons.
Under the new policy, if a male has been convicted, remanded, or is awaiting sentencing for trial on charges that include murder, rape, or sexual harassment, he is ineligible to be housed in a female prison “unless the risk management team, and subsequently the executive panel, are satisfied there is compelling evidence that they do not present an unacceptable risk or harm” to other inmates.
There were 23 transgender-identifying prisoners in Scotland from January to March this year, the BBC reported; seven males were housed in female prisons, and one female was in a male prison.
The new guidance comes just months after Adam Graham, a male who prefers to be called “Isla Bryson,” was found guilty for raping two women, and was sent to Scotland’s only female prison. After public outcry, Graham was moved to a male facility.
“With a trans woman, if we have information that suggests that they are a risk and pose a risk to others because of previous history of offending related to violence against women or girls, then they will be assigned into the male estate,” Teresa Medhurst, the chief executive officer of the Scottish Prison Service, told Sky News. “If we don’t have sufficient information in which to make that assessment or decision, then they will go to the male estate as well.”
Medhurst further said that transgender individuals are “a very small minority” and “they can be extremely vulnerable,” and the new policy “protects everyone within our prisons.”