No males in women's jails

Thread from 21st March 2023

The first man with a Gender Recognition Certificate in an Irish women's prison wasn't Barbie Kardashian:

Male-bodied transgender inmate housed with women

Criminal defence lawyer Robert Purcell says that the Gender Recognition Act 2015 has placed the State in an impossible position with regard to transgender prisoners.

Gazette DeskLaw Society Gazette Logo

In fact we've had at least three recently, as well as another man claiming to be a woman who must not have had a Gender Recognition Certificate, and was held in the Midlands Prison. He was released recently. @NoXYinXXprisons

Transgender inmates are housed in women’s wing of prison

Three transgender inmates are currently being housed in the women’s wing of Limerick jail, as it is deemed more suitable than the country’s main committal jail for females, the Dóchas Centre in Dublin.

Ali BrackenIndependent.ie

Kardashian had already been held in custody in Limerick women's prison.

Probation report on Barbie Kardashian who threatened to kill mother ‘deeply disturbing’ | BreakingNews.ie

Kardashian had told staff at Coovagh House that she planned to travel to her mother’s house, overpower her, torture her with a knife, a screwdriver, and boiling water.

BreakingNews.ie

An inspection of Limerick women's prison in April 2021 heard there were complaints from the "women" regarding searches. Reference to the Yogyakarta Principles, which are a set of activist demands and not binding on the State were also cited @OIP_Ireland

As highlighted here regularly the women in Limerick prison are the most overcrowded in the State, with numbers as high as 175% last month: with 49 in a prison for 28.

The new women's prison in Limerick due to open shortly will only have 50 places. The new  prison appears to have a more open design also Limerick women’s prison: an architecture of hope (architectsjournal.co.uk)

Inmates at Limerick Women’s Prison sleeping on mattresses or floors due to overcrowding

In the past two and a half months, there have been just seven nights where no female prisoner was sleeping on a mattress

Noel Baker, Social Affairs CorrespondentIrishexaminer.com

Last month Justice Secretary Dominic Raab published new prison rules for men who claim to be women guilty of violent and sexual offences.

"The new guidance will apply regardless of whether transgender prisoners have a Gender Recognition Certificate,"

Earlier this month @SimonHarrisTD was asked*

The Minister's response:

"As previously advised, the Irish Prison Service is currently finalising an updated policy in relation to the management of transgender prisoners. As part of that process the Irish Prison Service is considering all relevant information and learning arising from the experience in other jurisdictions."

Thank you Minister @SimonHarrisTD

*Having a criminal conviction is not a bar to obtaining a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC):

Only one GRC has been refused so far: