What is the transgender prisoners row all about?

A transgender pistillate has been convicted of raping 2 women successful attacks carried retired earlier she changed gender.

Isla Bryson is present successful custody and facing a lengthy jailhouse word - but wherever she should service that condemnation is the taxable of heated debate.

It has led to concerns astir the information of immoderate women held alongside Bryson successful a pistillate prison.

The Scottish Prison Service says the determination connected wherever transgender prisoners are housed is taken connected a case-by-case ground aft due hazard assessments.

She committed the crimes successful Clydebank and Glasgow successful 2016 and 2019 portion known arsenic a antheral called Adam Graham.

It is thought to beryllium the archetypal clip a trans pistillate has been convicted of raping women successful Scotland.

Bryson made the determination to modulation from a antheral to a pistillate portion awaiting trial.

Following her conviction, Judge Lord Scott warned Bryson that a "significant custodial sentence" was inevitable.

It is understood that she is presently being held successful Cornton Vale women's situation successful Stirling, wherever she is apt to beryllium kept isolated from different inmates, earlier being sentenced successful February.

Bryson is 1 of comparatively fewer trans prisoners successful Scotland.

According to the latest Scottish Prison Service statistics, determination were 11 trans women, 4 trans men and 3 non-binary/gender fluid prisoners betwixt July and September 2022.

There were 7,092 antheral prisoners and 280 pistillate inmates.

By comparison, successful England and Wales determination were 230 trans prisoners astatine the past number connected 31 March 2022. Of the 49 transgender prisoners successful pistillate prisons, six were trans women; and of the 181 successful the antheral estate, 162 were trans women.

Other precocious illustration transgender prisoners successful Scotland person included Katie Dolatowski, a 22-year-old trans pistillate who was held successful Cornton Vale past twelvemonth aft breaching a regularisation of liberty order.

In 2018 she sexually assaulted a 10-year-old miss successful a Kirkcaldy supermarket toilets, and filmed a 12-year-old miss connected the toilet astatine a abstracted supermarket.

The situation work says the determination connected wherever to location trans prisoners is taken connected a case-by-case basis.

Fiona Cruickshank, the caput of the situation services' nationalist extortion unit, told BBC Scotland that it considers the risks posed by and to the idiosyncratic prisoner.

They are balanced with information for the information and wellbeing of different inmates and staff.

"If we deliberation an idiosyncratic poses peculiar risks oregon determination is simply a peculiar hazard to them past we person the accidental to region them and support them separated until specified times arsenic a determination is made connected however we champion negociate that risk," she said.

Segregating prisoners tin impact their intelligence wellness and wellbeing, truthful they ever purpose to integrate them backmost into the mainstream population.

In the lawsuit of transgender prisoners, it would hap slowly, with "robust hazard management, adjacent monitoring and supervision and lawsuit conferences", Ms Cruickshank said.

There would ever beryllium the enactment to enactment the captive backmost into afloat clip segregation, she added.

And she confirmed that 1 effect of a hazard appraisal could beryllium a determination that it was not imaginable to location a trans pistillate successful the pistillate situation estate.

Justice Secretary Keith Brown said helium was assured successful the situation service's quality to minimise risk.

"The facts of the substance are that the Scottish Prison Service has a agelong way grounds - I'm talking 20 years and much - of assessing risks wrong our prisons, including those presented by the beingness of trans prisoners - some for the trans prisoners themselves and different prisoners," helium said.

"They don't bash this enactment quickly. They bash it implicit a play of time, involving tons of antithetic organisations. They bash a afloat hazard appraisal and they instrumentality decisions based connected that."

During the statement connected the measure determination were attempts to barroom enactment offenders from changing their ineligible enactment by obtaining a sex designation certificate. However, those amendments were defeated.

Under the presumption of measure which was passed, anyone taxable to a intersexual harm prevention bid oregon intersexual offences prevention bid would not beryllium allowed to question a GRC.

However, SNP MP Joanna Cherry said Bryson should beryllium moved to men's prison.

"To galore people, it volition look similar this convicted rapist has gamed the strategy successful bid to effort and garner sympathy, and to extremity up successful a women's prison," she told Times Radio.

"And I deliberation a batch of radical volition beryllium shocked by that."

She besides said she was precise acrophobic astir the information of the women prisoners.

Campaigners person warned that pistillate inmates are highly vulnerable.

Kate Coleman, manager of Keep Prisons Single Sex, said galore had been diagnosed with intelligence wellness problems, and were apt to person acquisition of home maltreatment and intersexual unit by men.

She said the crimes they perpetrate which pb to them being imprisoned are often bound up with the home relationships with the men successful their lives.

In prison, she fears that these women are "literally a captive audience" for transgender inmates.

But arsenic good arsenic the menace of intersexual and carnal violence, she is acrophobic astir the intelligence interaction connected susceptible pistillate prisoners.

"The women respond viscerally to the antheral successful their presence... there's existent fear," she said.

Rape Crisis Scotland has besides spoken retired against immoderate determination to spot radical convicted of rape successful a women's prison.

In a tweet, the organisation said: "Rape is an highly superior offence - successful deciding wherever to spot immoderate convicted enactment offender, the precedence indispensable beryllium the information of different women prisoners.

"It is not due for idiosyncratic convicted of immoderate superior intersexual offence to beryllium placed wrong the wide pistillate population."