NT Govt Bans Trans Women From Women’s Prisons in “Nation-First” Move
Image: AAP Image/David Hancock
The Northern Territory Government has announced that trans women will no longer be housed in female prisons, with Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro declaring the move a “nation-first” policy designed to “protect women’s dignity”.
The announcement confirms that the government will change correctional policies to create a blanket rule on inmates being placed in prisons according to their sex assigned at birth, rather than their gender identity.
“I can tell you now, here in the Northern Territory there are no blokes in women’s jails and we’re not having that here, not on my watch.” Finocchiaro told The Australian. “If you’re born a bloke, you go into a men’s prison. At the end of the day, this is really about women’s safety. It’s about women’s dignity”.
“If other states want to be confused by this, that’s a matter for them to justify to their communities, but we won’t be confused by this woke agenda that is being driven by Labor governments around the country.”
Finocchiaro doubled down on her decision in a statement to the ABC, saying the Country Liberal Party (CLP) had reversed the previous Labor government’s “woke transgender prisoner policy where self-declaration was enough”.
Finocchiaro made the announcement following a targeted campaign by Women’s Forum Australia, which had been writing to the Prime Minister and all state and territory leaders, protesting trans women being placed in women’s prisons, which it referred to as “a national pattern of state-sanctioned injustice and abuse”.
Anti-trans advocates praise NT decision
The policy was publicly welcomed by Binary Australia director and anti-trans advocate Kirralie Smith.
In a media release, Smith described the announcement as a “bold” statement on the “horrific injustice of violent males gaining access to women’s spaces and prisons by self-declaring they are female”.
“Bravo and well said! The lies and deception of gender ideology are being exposed and it is time more leaders read the writing on the wall.”
In an email to Binary Australia’s followers, sighted by Star Observer, the group spoke about Finocchiaro’s announcement, and about “gender ideology”.
“Politicians and the media are responsible for one of the worst medical scandals in Australia’s history.
“It is deeply shameful that so many still refuse to safeguard women and children.”
Advocates say decision will harm trans community
Critics have warned that such a policy could contravene anti-discrimination protections under both Northern Territory and federal law, which prohibit discrimination based on gender identity.
Advocates for LGBTQIA+, particularly transgender and gender-diverse, communities say the change does not come from a place of facts or science, and will likely expose trans women to a higher risk of violence, isolation and abuse in male facilities.
In 2018, a trans woman housed in male prisons in Queensland spoke out about her experiences, where she was repeatedly misgendered and put on a discriminatory “management plan” to reduce her “overtly feminised and sexually laden behaviour”. Her gender on her birth certificate and her passport both had her gender listed as female, but her prison documents recorded her gender as male.
“I felt shame because I was being told that I was not a woman,” she said.
Vital Collective, a collective for the Sistergirl, Brotherboy and LGBTIQAP+ community in Mparntwe Alice Springs, said in a statement they “horrified” by the comments from Finocchiaro.
“Anti-trans comments are dangerous, offensive and discriminatory. Elected officials particularly need to be centering [sic] safety and care, not spreading hate and misinformation about the trans community.”
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To protect women! Not likely! To be to an agenda that not only doesn’t protect women, it will certainly hurt trans women. The abuse and violence they will face in male prisons will be horrific. The NT government should be disgusted at itself and ashamed to stand in public. Just horrible!