Violent transgender criminals will be banned from women’s prisons from today

Transgender women convicted of violent crimes will be barred from female prisons in England and Wales under new rules coming into force today. 

Justice Secretary Dominic Raab had already announced the ban would affect trans women who have male genitalia or have committed sexual offences. 

And he announced yesterday the ban would be expanded to those found guilty of violent crimes including murder, attempted murder, harming a child, assault with intent to cause serious harm or injury, endangering life and harassment. 

The changes will apply to all trans women regardless of whether they have a gender-recognition certificate.   

It comes after the controversy in Scotland regarding Isla Bryson, a trans woman who was convicted of raping two women before transitioning from a man known as Adam Graham.

Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said the measures were a ‘common sense’ way of keeping inmates safe 

The 31-year-old rapist was convicted in late January and was taken to Cornton Vale – Scotland’s only all-female facility – to be held in segregation to await sentencing.

Following an outcry from the public and politicians, Bryson was moved to the male estate within days and an urgent review was commissioned by Scottish Justice Secretary Keith Brown.

Mr Raab called the new rules ‘a strengthened, common-sense framework that will improve safety for prisoners’. 

He added: ‘As we have already promised, transgender women who have male genitalia or have committed sexual offences will no longer be held in women’s prisons – unless in the most exceptional cases, requiring explicit ministerial approval.

‘And as of tomorrow we have gone one step further – changing our guidance so that transgender women convicted of violent offences will also no longer be held in mainstream women’s prisons.’

The Cabinet minister was asked about the UK Government’s position on trans women during an appearance on Sky News.

He said the reason the policy was coming into force today, having been announced four months ago, was because it had taken ‘time to do it very carefully and assiduously’.

But he denied it was in reaction to Bryson’s case in Scotland.

Mr Raab, speaking to the Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme, said the UK Government wanted to have a ‘liberal, sensitive, tolerant approach to the LGBT community as a whole and in particular the trans community’, who he said ‘suffer a lot in this country’ with mental health and bullying.

It comes after the controversy in Scotland regarding Isla Bryson, a trans woman who was convicted of raping two women before transitioning from a man known as Adam Graham 

Explaining the Ministry of Justice position on trans women in female prisons, he said: ‘We are very clear that from next week we will introduce new rules which means that any trans offender with their male genitalia intact or who have been convicted of a sexual offence and, adding to that, if they have been convicted of a violent offence, they will not be allowed into the female prison estate.’

Ministry of Justice figures show there were 230 transgender prisoners in England and Wales in the year to last March, of whom 187 had a legal gender of male and 43 of female.

Of the total, 181 were in male prisons and 49 were in female ones. There were six trans women in women’s jails.

Previously, there was no requirement to place transgender prisoners according to their preference, with the decision down to the results of a risk assessment. 

In Scotland, there is a presumption that trans women will be placed according to their self-declared gender identity unless there are concerns they could pose a risk.