Scotland introduces new measures as transgender prisoner policy reviewed
- On Thursday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Isla Bryson, a transgender woman convicted of rape, would be moved out of a female prison to a male prison
- On Sunday, the government said no newly convicted transgender prisoner with a history of violence against women would be placed in a female prison
Scotland’s government said on Sunday it would stop transferring transgender women with a history of violence against women to its all-female prison, days after a rapist was removed from the facility.
It was just the latest development in a long-running controversy that has pitted trans rights campaigners against feminists who say that women-only spaces are being compromised.
The government’s announcement came after transgender woman Isla Bryson, 31, convicted of raping two women before her transition, was removed from the all-female Cornton Vale women’s prison this week following a public outcry.
British media have also reported that another transgender woman prisoner, Tiffany Scott, deemed a security risk after harassing a 13-year-old girl, was due to be transferred to an all-female jail.
Scottish Justice Minister Keith Brown said he had ordered an urgent review of current practices.
The issue of transgender women committing violent and sexual offences was “a highly emotive subject and that the public concern is understandable,” he said.
But he warned against stigmatising transgender women as an inherent threat to women, stressing that “predatory men are the risk to women”.