There seems to have arisen some confusion about Reform's policy in the case of trans prisoners, following the recent press conference in which Vanessa Frake, an ex-governor, said she thought such issues should be dealt with on a “case-by-case” basis.
Immediately, it was claimed that this was not in line with stated Reform policy, which is that trans women should serve their sentences in male prisons. Let me attempt some clarification.
It is indeed Reform policy that, in order to protect women from assault, the norm should be that a prisoner should serve the sentence imposed in a prison of the sex that he was born in.
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Allowing a man who “identifies” as a woman to be housed among female prisoners poses too great a risk to their safety and, therefore, is a dereliction of duty on the part of the prison service.
For that reason, and especially in light of the recent ruling of the Supreme Court, it is Reform policy to keep such prisoners in male prisons.
Since the adults have left the room, let me set the record straight on Reform’s trans policy – Ann Widdecombe
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However, there is a very small number of trans people who have gone the whole hog. They have undergone extensive surgery to remove their male genitalia and to create a seemingly female body.
They have developed breasts and have taken drugs to suppress male hormones and promote female ones. They look and sound exactly like the women they believe they have become, and they may have lived that way for years.
We have a duty to ensure their safety too, and beyond all peradventure, they would not be safe in a male prison but liable to serious sexual assault, including rape.
They would not however pose any threat to women and it is unlikely that women would in turn feel threatened. This is not a man in a dress: it is somebody whose body itself has been extensively altered.
There are not enough of such prisoners to justify a special unit and so the choice is between housing such a person in a male prison in solitary confinement for that person’s own protection, which is clearly unacceptable for any length of time, or housing her in a prison where she will look and feel like the other inmates.
Think India Willoughby or ,if you were around then , think Jan Morris. Trans surgery of that order of magnitude is serious stuff.
Such people do not want to be men, are no longer driven by male hormones and do not get excited by the prospect of sex with women.
That, I think, is what Vanessa Frake had in mind and I cannot believe that many would think her wrong. Nigel Farage has rightly recognised the problem but that has opened the way for Kemi Badenoch to accuse him of putting women in danger.
Grow up, Kemi, and tell us then if it is Conservative policy to put such prisoners in danger themselves. We need to know and any journalist worthy of the name should press for an answer.
In short, the norm will be to house transwomen in male prisons but the very few exceptions will be carefully looked at and their own safety respected. What’s wrong with that?