A former justice minister has claimed that female prison officers have been raped by transgender inmates, Rory Stewart said that while he served in the Government there were “situations of male prisoners self-identifying as females then raping staff in prison”.
The former Conservative MP who ran in last year’s leadership election made the remarks in GQ as he was interviewed as part of his candidacy for Mayor of London.
When asked whether anyone who identifies as a woman should be allowed to go into female-only spaces such as toilets, Mr Stewart said: “I’m instinctively worried about that, partly because when I was prisons minister, we had situations of male prisoners self-identifying as females then raping staff in prison.
“So I think if someone is biologically male, particularly in an environment like a prison, we shouldn’t allow that to happen.
“We have to be pretty cautious about how we think that happens in other spaces.
“The important thing is: I think the rights of women to feel safe trump the rights of somebody who’s biologically male to enter that space.”
Mr Stewart’s comments have brought back into the spotlight the questions about whether male-bodied criminals in female jails puts women in danger, clearly in some cases the evidence would speak for itself.
Currently, there are 1,500 inmates who identify as Transgender among 90,000 prisoners in England and Wales.
Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, told The Telegraph: “If that happened, it would be appalling.
“I am concerned about people who have been convicted of sex offences or offences against woman who then say they’re female then get access to woman’s prisons.
“It is an issue of safety for everybody.” It comes after the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) raised concerns that Transgender prisoners at female prison HMP Eastwood Park near Bristol were “inhumanely” segregated for long periods of time. Arthur Williams, IMB chairman, said: “Most transgender prisoners are well integrated into the prison community.
“However, those who were considered to be a risk to others were segregated for periods in excess of 42 days, before being transferred elsewhere which the IMB considered to be inhumane treatment.”
Rory Stewart comments are thought to be the first public reference to trans women assaulting or raping prison staff in women’s jails, questions must not be asked about how prevalent these sorts of attacks are in British prisons.
In response to the concerns, a Prison Service spokesperson said: “We have no record of this happening. Strict safeguards are in place to manage transgender prisoners while protecting our staff and other inmates.”
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