British trans prisoner calls for reform: “I felt like an animal in a zoo”
By Josh Lee
27 year old Tara Hudson has called for more training for prison staff and clearer rules on trans inmates after being treated “like cattle” while serving a six month sentence, the BBC reports.
Tara was initially placed inside HMP Bristol, a men’s prison, because her legal gender was male. During her time there, she was segregated from the rest of the prisoners and kept in her cell, while the rest of the prisoners were able to take part in educational courses or use the gym. It took a national outcry for her to be moved to a women’s prison, HMP Eastwood.
“I could tell that they weren’t really ready for a prisoner like myself,” she said.
“Because of my gender identity they felt they had to lock me up in segregation and keep me away from the main population of the prison.
“I felt like I was being persecuted by the state… I felt I had no rights.. I felt like an animal in a zoo.”
The Ministry of Justice have since told the BBC that a national review was looking into how to ensure people are placed in the correct prisons, adding that discretion can be shown in cases such as Tara’s.
HMP Eastwood’s governor, Suzy Dymong-White, has called for prisoners to be treated as “individuals,” saying, “I would prefer to maintain people as individuals and transgender people are at different states of transition and they have different backgrounds and they’re in different states not just physically but emotionally and mentally as well.
“A basic set of guidelines is always useful but actually we should assess the people as individuals and look at what their needs are.”
MP and Women and Equalities Select Committee member Ben Howlett said that “This issue is systematic of how much prejudice, discrimination and misunderstanding there is around trans community in today’s society.”