A biological male who identifies as female was sent to a woman’s prison in Great Britain, despite not having gone through sex reassignment surgery — and now he stands accused of sexually assaulting or harassing four female inmates. The transgender prisoner has now been moved to a male prison.
The first alleged attack happened within days of the inmate arriving at New Hall jail in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, the Daily Mail reported.
The prisoner had been living as a woman for the past two years, but “was seen visibly aroused during the assault at the high security complex.” One alleged victim, who had become friends with the transgender inmate, claimed she could see his erect penis at the time of the assault. A second prisoner claimed that she was kissed on the neck by the transgender inmate and a third victim said she was also attacked. A fourth victim claimed the transgender prisoner made “inappropriate comments about oral sex.”
The transgender prisoner has now been sent to a Category B men’s jail in a case that will reignite the debate over whether such prisoners should be sent to women’s jails prior to gender reassignment surgery.
The recent figures indicate there were 125 transgender prisoners in England and Wales up to the end of March 2017, an increase from 70 a year earlier.
Currently, transgender women can only legally change their gender on their birth certificate if they have been medically diagnosed with gender dysphoria, and have lived as a woman for two years.
Judges consider this information when deciding whether to send transgender prisoners to male or female prisons, but as this case suggests, it does not appear to be sufficient.
This comes after the number of transgender prisoners in English and Welsh jails rose almost 80 percent last year, according to official figures published by the Ministry of Justice.
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