One in 50 inmates now transgender
ALMOST one 50 prisoners is transgender, according to a shock new survey of inmates conducted by an official jail watchdog.
Inmates at notorious top-security male prisons in England such as Belmarsh, Long Lartin and Wakefield said they identified as female or ‘non-binary’.
Transgender prisoners are allowed to choose whether they are kept in a male or female jail and can receive other perks including showering alone.
The numbers are far higher than those published by the Government. Last year statistics published by Westminster’s Ministry of Justice found only 139 prisoners said they were transgender.
But extrapolated across the entire prison population, the new survey figures would suggest there are more than 1,400 transgender inmates.
It can also be disclosed today that special wings for transgender prisoners have been set up across the country, while Ministers are still considering whether or not to make it official policy.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is urgently rewriting the rulebook on how transgender prisoners should be treated as their numbers surge.
It is under pressure to stop transgender criminals being able to move to female jails after the scandal last year when rapist Karen White – born a man, Stephen Wood – sexually assaulted two women behind bars.
An MoJ spokesman said: ‘We do not recognise these survey figures, which use a less robust methodology than our statistics.’