Zero assaults carried out by transgender women against female inmates but calls for the immediate removal of biological males from Surrey prison remain

MP Rebecca Paul said it endangered woman prisoners – already some of the most vulnerable people in society.

She said mixed-sex prisons put inclusion and ideology above safety and reality and that the feelings of a man held more weight than the fears of many women, during the November 24 debate in the House of Commons on female prisoners at HMP Downview.

The debate heard that transgender women are placed there for their own protection, escorted by guards when they mix with the rest of the prison population, and that, since 2019 there had not been a single recorded attack carried out by a trans inmate against a biologically female prisoner.

The debate also heard that transgender women held in men’s prisons were themselves sexually assaulted at a disproportionate rate.

Mrs Paul said: “HMP Downview is a women’s prison in Banstead, near the Sutton border. It includes a wing, E Wing, specifically for biological males who identify as women.

“E Wing local policy sets out that it is for transgender women with or without a gender recognition certificate where risk indicates they cannot be safely held in the general women’s estate.

“Over the course of the last year, between five and seven males have been housed in this wing. The Minister in the other place has said that these males are vulnerable.

“Before I look at the facts, I have a warning: some may find the data difficult as it yields an uncomfortable truth, but one that it is incumbent upon this House not to ignore.

“In 2024, of the 245 transgender males, biological males with a trans identity, in prison, 151, or 62 per cent were convicted of a sexual offence. This is a far, far higher rate than that for the overall male prison population, which is only around 17 per cent.

“And it is not a one-off either: a similar rate can be seen for 2023—a rate of 56 per cent. So sexual offences are massively over-represented in this specific cohort of biological males.”

She added: “We can conclude that the male transgender prison population poses a much higher risk to women and girls.

“When people parrot the line that transwomen are not a threat to women, in the case of the prison population, I am afraid that that statement does not hold up.”

Mrs Paul is calling for the Government to take action and protect women at HMP Downview and across the female prison estate.

Responding to the debate, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice, Alex Davies-Jones MP, said that transgender women can have similar vulnerabilities.

She said: “That does not necessarily mean that they need to be granted access to the space for biological women, but these matters require thought and tact if they are to be resolved in a fair and balanced way.”

The approach to allocating prisoners has been through several iterations over the past decade and balances the risk transgender prisoners may pose, or face, if placed with prisoners that mirror their identity or biological sex.

Exemptions allowing transgender women to be housed in the general women’s population are only recommended if there is a compelling reason, such as a suicide or self-harm risk, and when there is a high level of confidence the prisoner poses a low risk to others.

However none have been issued recently. Alex Davies-Jones said: “There have been zero assaults and zero sexual assaults committed by transgender women in the women’s estate since 2019. More than 95 per cent of transgender women are held in men’s prisons.

“Of the small number held in women’s prisons, the significant majority are held on E wing at HMP Downview, a women’s prison in the constituency of the hon. Member for Reigate.

“It is a stand-alone 16-bed unit, where the prisoners are accommodated completely separately from biological women, in a discrete building behind a gated fence.

“E wing was introduced by the previous Government in 2019. The reason it was created, and the function that it serves, links directly to the vulnerabilities of many transgender women. Those held in men’s prisons are disproportionately likely to self-harm…and they face bullying and harassment. They are also disproportionately likely to be victims of sexual assault.”

She finished: “I thank all members for taking part in the debate, but I particularly thank the honourable Member for Reigate. This is an important subject.

“I realise how emotive it can be. I hope that my setting out the facts and assuring Members of the policy directions that exist, along with the fact that there have been zero sexual or other assaults on any female prisoner by a transgender prisoner since 2019, has made clear the balance that we seek to strike in the way in which we allocate transgender prisoners, and has also helped to add some balance to this debate.”