They can shower alone, sleep alone and choose their own clothes
... so, is it any wonder that1 in 50 inmates in male prisons claims to be transgender?
AMONG the prisoners at Littlehey jail in Cambridgeshire is an inmate called Carrie Cooper. In a previous life on the outside, Carrie Cooper was delivery driver Gary Cooper, a paedophile whose crimes included the rape and abduction of a young girl.
But Cooper is serving her sentence, totalling more than 20 years, as a woman after changing her identity following her imprisonment in 2011.
Transgender convicts such as Carrie Cooper — residing in prisons around the country — are now entitled to shower alone, have separate cells and choose their own clothing. These are but a few of the ‘perks’ of identifying as an alternative gender in prison.
The rules were introduced two years ago after research showed transgender inmates are vulnerable to self-harm, bullying and suicide.
So any concerns there might have been about potential shortcomings in the policy, hard to argue against in principle, went largely unheard.
Can there really be anyone, though, even in these politically correct, diversity sensitive, gender-respecting times, who believes individuals such as Carrie Cooper automatically deserve special privileges?
No longer is a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria, the distress someone experiences because of their sex, required to be granted transgender status in jail.
Under the latest regulations, it is enough if you are a male offender and wish to be recognised as a member of the opposite sex, simply to say you are a woman — or ‘self-identify’ as such a declaration is known. Yet many believe the regime, however well intentioned, has resulted in what can best be described as the law of unintended consequences.
One in 50 inmates in adult male prisons now claims to be transgender, according to the annual report, published last week, by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons.
There are only two possible explanations for the dramatic rise. Either the figures, based on questionnaires circulated in prisons, are a true reflection of the demographic in our jails.
Or the system — more in tune, supposedly, with modern Britain — is being exploited in growing numbers by criminals with ulterior motives.
The fact the ‘one in 50’ statistic is more than ten times previous Home Office estimates, and at least four times the proportion in the general population, suggests the latter.
Which brings us back to Carrie Cooper. Has she genuinely ‘transitioned’ or is she playing the system?
Inside Time, a newspaper for prisoners, has received dozens of letters about this issue.
The following is from an inmate who describes herself as a ‘ genuine trans prisoner’ and who, until recently, was held at Littlehey — the same jail as Carrie Cooper.
‘The sickest part of this is that the system can do sod-all about these trans bandwagon jumpers, because the policy states they must be treated as transgender prisoners if they say they are.
‘I have had staff and other inmates express their disgust to me (a genuine trans prisoner) over this behaviour.
‘It is trans imposters who give real transgender people a bad name, in and out of prison. To genuine trans people — stay strong.’ The author, whose name was supplied to the paper, said she knew of ‘17’ fellow prisoners who had jumped on ‘the trans bandwagon’.
As a member of the ‘trans community’ herself, she cannot be easily dismissed or undermined by accusations of bigotry and transphobia, insults often used by the transgender lobby to discredit critics.
Many feminist groups are also implacably opposed to the transgender policy in our prisons. One of them is Object.
‘It’s crazy to give trans prisoners everything they say they want,’ said chair Janice Williams. ‘Why wouldn’t they lie in the circumstances?
‘ Conditions inside will be much easier for them — privacy, showering, a whole range of things. There is no doubt in my mind that this is behind the sudden spike in trans declarations. The new rules are just a “Gimme Charter”.’
The latest figures from the prisons watchdog which — when extrapolated — suggest there are up to 1,500 transgender inmates among 83,000 prisoners in England and Wales, have ignited the wider debate surrounding one of the most contentious issues facing Britain today.
The controversial amendment to the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) — expected to come into force later this year — means men who self-identify as women could, in theory, gain access to female- only spaces such as cloakrooms and changing rooms. Moreover, there are also concerns that women who want to see a female professional for, say, a mammogram or smear test, may find this harder to arrange.
But it is within the prison system — where self-identifying is already a reality — that it is causing the most disquiet.
Previously, a Gender Recognition Certificate ( GRC), signed off by a doctor, was
‘It’s crazy to give them everything they want’
required for someone to be treated as transgender.
Now the final decision (just a formality, critics claim) is made by a ‘transgender review board’.
Afterwards, inmates are encouraged to enter into a ‘ voluntary arrangement’ to be signed by them and a prison representative, reminiscent in some respects to a contract of employment someone might be given when starting a new job, not going to jail.
The protocols — or rather, transgender rights — are set out in painstaking detail in a 63-page booklet, The Care and Management of Transgender Offenders, which was updated in January.
‘Living space,’ they are informed, ‘will be provided to give you the most privacy possible but still allowing you to take part in all the prison activities.
‘If the prison is unable to provide showering or bathing in your cell, you will be given as much privacy as possible. No other prisoner will be allowed to use the shower/bathing space when you are using it.’
The tone is almost apologetic. Take this section: ‘You may wash personal items such as underwear by hand in your room,’ transgender inmates are assured.
‘If needed, a bowl will be provided for this purpose. If a sink is not available in your room (shouldn’t that be cell?) other plans will be made for you to wash personal items in private.’
The special treatment extends to almost every aspect of prison life. While inmates will be given work in line with prison rules, the handbook states, they will ‘take into account any issues you have in relation to your gender’.
There is no explanation of what this might mean in practice but, critics claim, the clause creates a possible loophole to dodge unpopular duties.
Transgender prisoners have to be consulted, too, on searching procedures, something which is spelled out in this section: ‘The way in which you are searched, and the gender of the staff searching you, will be discussed with you in order to reach an agreement.
‘If agreement cannot be reached, you will be searched in a way that this prison considers to be the best for security and for your welfare and privacy.’
This rule has already led to a number of farcical incidents including, in one recent case, female prison officers in Scotland refusing to search a transgender woman because she was still biologically male.
Yet this is the new orthodoxy at even maximum security establishments, such as Belmarsh in South-East London, where a recent inspection praised the jail for its ‘regular Pride meeting’ and ‘ several campaigns’ to raise awareness of the needs of transgender prisoners.
Prison staff are reminded that, at all times, they ‘must communicate in ways that respect the gender’ prisoners identify with — the name and pronoun they prefer, for example — and face possible censure if transgender policies are not followed.
Inspectors from the Independent Monitoring Board ( IMB) criticised Littlehey, where Carrie Cooper is serving her sentence, because the 12 transgender inmates at the jail had been unable to fully ‘live in gender’. Why? Because they could not buy cosmetics from the Avon catalogue.
Last year’s report by the IMB, which answers to the Ministry of Justice, stated: ‘The Board is very disappointed that there remains an issue with the Avon catalogue.’
Up until now, transgender prisoners have even been allowed to choose whether they are sent to a male or female jail; to ‘experience the [criminal justice] system in the gender in which they identify,’ to use the Whitehall vernacular.
This is now understood to be under review following the Karen White fiasco. White, a convicted double rapist previously known as Stephen Wood, was remanded at New Hall women’s jail in Wakefield after stabbing a neighbour with a steak knife.
While being held there she sexually assaulted two inmates. At her trial last October, the judge described White, who is still biologically male, as a manipulative predator who had deliberately sought transition to gain easier access to women.
Offenders such as White are now increasingly being sent to special transgender wings. The first one opened in the UK in March at HMP Downview, a women’s prison in Sutton, Surrey.
Members of Object staged a protest outside. The group says it is wrong to house transgender women in women’s jails, under any circumstances, even if they have had sex reassignment surgery. ‘At our Downview protest I heard stories of “trans women” flushing their hormones down the loo at some women’s prisons [because they were not genuinely transgender] and preying on women prisoners who could not get away from them,’ said Janice Williams.
It is impossible to verify this. But there can’t be many who don’t believe the current system is being exploited in one way or another.
The figures in the annual report by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons were based on a survey of 5,845 prisoners. The Ministry of Justice insists the sample is too small to extrapolate the ‘one in 50’ statistic which made the headlines.
The MoJ does, nevertheless, accept that its own statistics for the transgender prison population ‘are likely to underestimate the true number’.
It is prison staff, however, who have to deal with the consequences. ‘Society is becoming more tolerant and understanding of transgender issues,’ Andrea Albutt, President of the Prison Governors Association, told the Mail. ‘Prison is a microcosm of society, so the expectation is that the number of transgender prisoners, mainly male to female, will only increase.
‘Is the prison service ready for this? I think not. There will be men who claim to be transgender for spurious reasons.’
The question is how many? The latest figures by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons do not give cause for optimism.
But isn’t the real scandal that the system is treating the likes of Carrie Cooper — a paedophile — more as victims than criminals?
‘Is the prison service ready for this? I think not’