Doug ​Beattie challenges Justice Minister to give 'clear direction' on transgender prison policy

The UUP MLA said women’s safety could be put at risk because the justice system does not have a “clear direction” on how to deal with transgender prisoners.

He said women’s rights are being “steadily undermined” in areas such as female-only spaces, sports and language.

His motion, due to be debated later this month, will ask MLAs’ views on whether Naomi Long should introduce legislation to ensure the prison estate is segregated on the basis of sex, not the gender identity declared by inmates.

It comes after a series of controversies throughout the UK about men, who identify as women, being held in women’s prisons. At the end of last year, the Department of Justice admitted it did not have a policy for transgender individuals held in custody.

Speaking to the News Letter, Mr Beattie said at present the justice system “may be putting women at risk” because it does “not have a clear direction in regards to those from the transgender community who find themselves within the criminal justice system”.

The UUP’s justice spokesperson added: “Where it is right to say a risk assessment is done for anyone within the criminal justice system, should they find themselves detained, it is also important to ensure that actions match societal norms and does not undermine women’s rights.

“To that end placing a male, who identifies as a transgender female in a female prison may well put female inmates at risk. The same goes with putting a female, who identifies as a transgender man, in a male prison. Such a move would put that individual at risk.

“This is not a common issue but it strikes at the heart of how society should respectfully treat the transgender community while also safeguarding women’s rights in regards to space, sports and language. All of which are being steadily undermined.

“The motion on this issue, brought forward by the Ulster Unionist Party, is to stimulate debate but it is also to highlight the issues we face if we allow abuse of a system that should be designed to help and support individuals.

“The justice minister must look at this dispassionately and take action in the first quarter of 2025. It may be the case that the minister may have to come before the justice committee to explain the current situation following this important wide-reaching debate.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said: “The Justice Minister will respond to the motion in the Assembly at the appropriate time.

“On the wider issue, in June 2022, the Northern Ireland Prison Service introduced new guidance on the care and management of transgender prisoners. This was developed in consultation with the Equality Commission and the South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust.

“When a person who is transgender is committed to custody, as directed by the Court, the Prison Service will consider their specific needs on a case-by-case basis. They do so to ensure the safety and dignity not only of that prisoner but also of other prisoners.

“It is also important to state that as a mixed gender site, Hydebank Wood Secure College & Women’s Prison holds in separate accommodation both males and females committed to custody by the courts. This has been the case since 2004.”

The issue of males in women’s prisons is part of a wider debate within the UK about how the demands of the transgender lobby – that people who change sex legally or simply identify as the opposite sex – clash with sex-based rights and protections, particularly for women.

At the weekend, the News Letter revealed that the PSNI operates a strip search policy which would allow men to conduct intimate searches of women, so long as they have a gender recognition certificate which recognises them as female for certain legal purposes.

The process by which someone legally changes their sex does not – as many believe – require any medical intervention. Applicants require a gender dysphoria diagnosis and evidence that that they have “lived as” the opposite sex for at least two years and intend to continue to do so.

The DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley described the force’s stance as “unacceptable” and the Women’s Rights Network Northern Ireland said it showed “a profound lack of insight into trauma”.