Trans prisoners with a history of violence against women and girls can still be placed in women’s prisons following the Isla Bryson scandal.
The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) will announce its new rules for transgender prisoners today.
Trans inmates will now only be placed in a jail which matches their affirmed gender if they are deemed to not present an “unacceptable risk of harm”.
The Scottish Government said the new policy “protects the safety and welfare of staff, those in their care and the rights of transgender people.”
But the Scottish Tories said it is “unacceptable” and puts women at “even greater risk”.
It comes after trans rapist Bryson was placed in a women’s prison earlier this year after being convicted of raping two women.
Trans woman Tiffany Scott, who had been convicted of stalking a 13-year-old girl, also successfully applied to be moved from a men’s prison to a female prison.
The cases provoked uproar, with the SPS announcing an “urgent review” and pausing the movement of any trans prisoners.
Bryson was then moved to a men’s prison and Scott’s move was blocked.
The new rules will come into place on February 26.
Individuals will “initially” be placed in the male estate until sufficient information is known on whether they can be admitted in accordance with their chosen gender.
If placing them in the female estate “gives rise to unacceptable risks that cannot be mitigated”, inmates will not be placed in their chosen prison.
If a transgender prisoner is known to have been convicted, remanded or awaiting sentencing for trials including murder, rape or sexual harassment, they will not be eligible for admission to a women’s prison “unless the risk management team, and subsequently the executive panel, are satisfied there is compelling evidence that they do not present an unacceptable risk or harm” to other prisoners.
The SPS said the new policy had been put together with input from experts in violence against women, people who are transgender and those who are not staff with experience of managing transgender people in custody in Scotland and internationally.
Justice Secretary Angela Constance said: “This updated policy protects the safety and welfare of staff, those in their care and the rights of transgender people. It makes clear that if a transgender woman meets the service’s violence against women and girls criteria they will be admitted and accommodated in the male estate.
“SPS has considerable expertise, as well as a duty of care for the management of people in their custody, and this policy upholds its responsibilities to deliver safe, secure and suitable services for all.”
Scottish Tories justice spokesman Russell Findlay said: “The SNP shamefully used vulnerable and voiceless female prisoners to impose its dangerous gender self-ID policy by stealth, which resulted in the obscene case of Isla Bryson being sent to a woman’s jail.
“These long overdue new guidelines actually put women at even greater risk by further eroding their fundamental right to single-sex space.
“They say that male prisoners with a history of violence against women or girls should be allowed in the female estate and will only be blocked if they present a risk, which is completely subjective. This is clearly unacceptable – and SNP ministers need to go back to the drawing board.”
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