The Scottish government on Sunday said that it would stop transferring transgender women with a history of violence against women to its all-female prison, days after a rapist was removed from the facility.
It was just the latest development in a long-running controversy that has pitted transgender rights campaigners against feminists, who say that female-only spaces are being compromised.
The government’s announcement came after transgender woman Isla Bryson, 31, convicted of raping two women before her transition, was removed from the all-female Cornton Vale women’s prison this week following a public outcry.
Photo: AFP
British media also reported that another transgender prisoner, Tiffany Scott, deemed a security risk after harassing a 13-year-old girl, was due to be transferred to an all-female jail.
Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans Keith Brown said that he had ordered an urgent review of current practices.
The issue of transgender women committing violent and sexual offenses is “a highly emotive subject and that the public concern is understandable,” he said.
However, he warned against stigmatizing transgender women as an inherent threat to women, stressing that “predatory men are the risk to women.”
LEGAL SHOWDOWN
Transgender issues are in the spotlight in Scotland after its devolved government last month passed legislation to make it easier for people to self-identify their gender.
The British government has blocked the law from obtaining royal assent, citing the potential negative impact on UK equalities legislation, setting up another legal showdown between Edinburgh and London.
Brown said Sunday’s announcement was unconnected with Scotland’s blocked law, which would end the need for a medical diagnosis to self-identify as transgender and lower the qualifying age from 18 to 16.
Some feminist activists have criticized the Scottish legislation precisely because they feared it would allow sexual predators to gain access to women-only spaces, despite provisions in the text.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s pro-independence administration in Edinburgh has accused London of politicizing the sensitive topic. LGBTQ activists have also denounced the move to block the law.
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