Image: Image: Trans flag - Ted Eytan
LGBTQIA+ advocates are calling on the Tasmanian Government to recommit to its existing policy allowing trans women to be housed in the state’s women’s prisons on a case-by-case basis following confused reporting in The Australian this morning.
A report published in the The Australian on Wednesday titled “State bans trans criminals from women’s prisons” quotes State Attorney-General, Guy Barnett, as having said “the presence of any male prisoner in a women’s prison would present unacceptable safety risks to female prisoners”, with the paper incorrectly concluding the state government had banned “trans-identifying male prisoners” from women’s prisons.
Barnett’s comments were in response to the case of an offender convicted of child abuse who identifies as a woman seeking to be housed in the women’s prison but whose requests have been repeatedly denied.
The comments have not been verified by the state government, nor have they been reported on by any other media outlet.
The reporting echoes common anti-trans rhetoric that portrays incarcerated trans women as predators attempting to access a vulnerable population.
“The real threat to women in prison is to trans women being housed in men’s facilities,” said trans community advocate, Martine Delaney.
“This was tragically highlighted by the case of trans woman, Marjorie Harwood, who was gang raped in Tasmania’s male prison where she was wrongly incarcerated and who died after refusing medical treatment for a congenital condition rather than be returned to the male prison.”
No official indication that policy has changed
Tasmanian policy has allowed trans women to be accommodated in women’s prisons on a case-by-case basis since 2009, with a new policy currently in development to ensure all cases are managed by an expert Gender Oversight Panel to ensure cases like Marjorie Harwood’s no longer occur.
In that time, there have been no reported incidents of trans women prisoners harassing, abusing or in any way harming other women.
Equality Tasmania spokesperson, Rodney Croome said that, in the wake of today’s reporting, the state government should recommit to its current, inclusive policies and to continue to develop new policies that ensure the safety of all prisoners
“The banning of all trans women from women’s facilities just because of one prisoner’s denied request would be an overreaction that puts the safety of trans women at risk, as highlighted by the case of Marjorie Harwood,” he said.
“Prisoner safety requires clear thinking, not culture-war fearmongering, ideological crusading and journalistic sensationalism.”
Earlier this year, the Northern Territory Government ruled that trans women will no longer be housed in female prisons, with Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro declaring the decision a “nation-first” policy designed to “protect women’s dignity”.
The move came after a targeted campaign from anti-trans group Women’s Forum Australia, which had been writing to the Prime Minister and all state and territory leaders, to protest trans women being placed in women’s prisons, which it referred to as “a national pattern of state-sanctioned injustice and abuse”.
Critics warned that the policy could contravene anti-discrimination protections under both Northern Territory and federal law, and will likely expose trans women to a higher risk of violence, isolation and abuse in male facilities.
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