In September, the Ministry of Justice apologised for failings in the prison review system that allowed a transgender sex offender to be transferred to a women’s prison where he raped and sexually assaulted female prisoners.
Frances Crook, the Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said that prisoners with a penis who have male hormones should not be transferred.
In a move which would erase his crime, another transgender offender wants to change the law so that his criminal conviction of ‘soliciting’ does not reveal that he was born a man.
Kept secret
People who have legally changed sex have a Gender Recognition Certificate, and are entitled to have their biological sex kept secret. A women’s campaign group says changing the law would create a ‘huge loophole’ which would allow rapists to erase their crimes following transition. Legally, rape can only be committed by a man.
