Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality

by Helen Joyce

I will consider just two further situations of the many that will require attention. One is prisons. Inmates of both sexes and all identities share the same core interests: safety and dignity, decent living conditions, suitable training and rehabilitation. Trans people may also have an interest in receiving clothing and toiletries not normally available to prisoners of their sex, and, depending on local rules, being able to satisfy any requirement to ‘live as the opposite sex’ to qualify for medical treatment. I see no way to protect female prisoners’ safety and dignity if males are held alongside them. Prisons are not private enough for mixed-sex living, and the under-reporting of violent and sexual offending by males makes case-by-case risk assessment impossible. Moreover, accommodating males, who are physically stronger and far more likely to be dangerous offenders, would require women’s prisons to increase security and operate along stricter, more punitive lines, causing female prisoners further harm.