Why Scotland’s gender reform bill is sparking concern over trans prisoner policies

Analysts warn of legal challenges if bill makes inmates’ access to gender recognition certificates easier – though jail allocation is decided case by case

The outcry over the placement of the convicted double rapist and transgender woman Isla Bryson in a women’s prison is set against anxieties about Scottish Prison Service policy on trans prisoners and how Scotland’s gender recognition reforms could affect that.

In 2014, the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) introduced its gender identity and gender reassignment policy, which it developed with the Scottish Trans Alliance. It advises that – where an individual is permanently living in a gender other than that assigned at birth – “establishment allocation should usually be the new gender in which they are living”.