London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Twelve trans sex offenders moved to women’s prisons in Scotland over past 18 months

Twelve trans sex offenders moved to women’s prisons in Scotland over past 18 months

A dozen trans inmates sentenced for violent and sexual crimes have been serving time in women’s jails in Scotland, according to official data. One has completed gender transition, and the rest merely identify as female.
The figures, which show the 12 prisoners have been moved into the women’s jails over the past 18 months, were made public under the Freedom of Information Act. Another person, who is transitioning from female to male, is being accommodated in a men’s prison.

The revelation comes in the wake of a much-anticipated review of policy regarding transgender prisoners by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS). It was scheduled to begin in early 2021, but has been postponed several times due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Under current rules, which have been in place since 2014, an inmate needs simply to declare themselves a trans woman to apply for a transfer from a male to a female institution.

A spokesperson for the SPS assured The Times that “any decisions about the location of transgender prisoners are only made after an individual risk assessment has taken place,” and that this process “considers the risks potentially presented both to and by the individuals.”

“We take very seriously our duty of care towards all in our custody,” he said, adding that SPS policies re informed by regular prison surveys focusing on the experiences and needs of inmates.

However, activists have long been pushing for the Scottish prison authorities to abolish the policy, which allows prisoners to self-identify without the need for a gender-recognition certificate. They claim it is both illegal and potentially harmful to biological females behind bars.

“The evidence clearly indicates that where prisoners of the male sex, no matter how they identify, are held in women’s prisons, women in prison are negatively impacted,” Dr Kate Coleman, director of Keep Prisons Single Sex, told The Times.

One of the more vocal supporters of keeping trans women out of female jails has been the former governor of Stirling’s Cornton Vale women’s prison, Rhona Hotchkiss.

“The female prison estate is no place for male bodies, even if they are in the process of transitioning,” Hotchkiss told The Scotsman earlier this year.

SPS’s current risk assessment for transferring trans inmates doesn’t consider the impact of their presence in the same space on vulnerable female prisoners, many of whom had been victims of male violence, she argued.

In July, London’s High Court ruled that it was lawful for transwomen to be held in female jails in England and Wales, as doing their right to live as their chosen gender would otherwise be infringed. Scotland does not fall within its jurisdiction, however. The Ministry of Justice policy had been challenged last year by a female former prisoner who claimed she had been sexually assaulted behind bars by a trans woman.

However, the court acknowledged in its judgement that the proportion of trans prisoners convicted of sexual offences had been “substantially higher” than among non-trans inmates. It also provided statistics, according to which at least 7 out of 97 sexual assaults in English and Welsh jails between 2016 and 2017 had been perpetrated by trans persons.

At the time, Hotchkiss responded to the High Court ruling by saying that it shouldn’t affect the review of the transgender policies by the Scottish prison authorities in any way. “The SPS needs to find another solution for transgender prisoners” and do it swiftly, she insisted.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×