Transgender people suffer from discrimination as they get sent to the wrong prison

British prisons are still putting transgender women in male prisons long after a review on how transgender people were treated in prisons was finished, Gay Star News reports.

The review features many topics and could actually stop transgender people from getting sent to the wrong prisons. It could also mean that staff would get awareness training. But the reviews publication has been delayed until after the EU referendum due to a “busy parliamentary agenda”.

In the prisons, there have been many cases of transgender women being body searched by male officers, hormone treatment being withheld and prisoners deliberately being called by the wrong names.

vicky

Daniel Zeichner, Labour MP for Cambridge, told parliament that, “A transgender constituent of mine who is being held in custody is having a very difficult time in a men’s prison.”

The report comes after the high publicized case of Vicky Thompson who was found dead in her cell in a men’s prison. And the protest of Tara Hudson who ended up getting transferred to a female prison.

Zeichner then went on to say, “Two transgender women died in men’s prisons at the back end of last year. We were promised a review. How close are we to some outcomes from that review?”

However Equalities Minister, Nicky Morgan MP, said that, “The Government are firmly committed to ensuring the needs of transgender prisoners are fully met. The Ministry of Justice has carried out the review and it will be published shortly.”

A Prison Service spokesperson told Gay Star News, “Our top priority is the welfare of those in our custody, and there are strict rules in place to ensure transgender prisoners are managed safely and in accordance with the law.”

“Any allegation that transgender prisoners are being treated in an improper way will always be fully investigated. We are reviewing how transgender prisoners are treated in the Prison Service and will set out more detail in due course.”

The spokesperson however wouldn’t comment on why the publication of the review was delayed and, instead, claimed that their current policy is ‘compatible’ with the Equality Act.

Words: Darren Mew

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