Prison governors are warning that vulnerable women will be put at risk if sex offenders claiming to be female are allowed to more easily move to women’s prisons.
Currently, men who identify as women can only transfer with a Gender Recognition Certificate. They need to live in their assumed gender for two years and be medically diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
But the Government is now considering allowing people to legally ‘change sex’ by self-declaration.
‘Very damaging’
One prison governor, speaking anonymously, told the Mail on Sunday: “My fear is that this could make it much harder to control the transfer of born-male, transgender prisoners to women’s prisons. This could lead to vulnerable women being intimidated – and even attacked.”
Andrea Albutt, President of the Prison Governors Association, added: “To put men who declare they are women into women’s prisons would be very damaging.”
New figures from the Ministry of Justice revealed there are over 30 male sex offenders who were now living as female.
Transgender inmates
This could lead to vulnerable women being intimidated – and even attacked.
A freedom of information (FoI) request from women’s group Fair Play For Women found that at least 34 male inmates are currently living as women in four specialist male-only sex offender prisons in the UK.
Prison reformer Frances Crook raised concern that “some men with a history of extreme violence and sexual violence against women have found a new way of exercising aggression towards women”.