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A legal challenge is set to be heard by judges over the current guidance determining the placement of transgender inmates in Scottish prisons. The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) operates a policy that evaluates each case individually, taking into account the potential risk a transgender prisoner might pose to female inmates. This approach contrasts with the demands of the campaign group For Women Scotland, which argues that admission to women’s prisons should strictly depend on biological sex, citing a recent Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman in equalities law.
The Scottish government, however, contends that applying a blanket rule for housing transgender prisoners would infringe on the rights of some individuals under human rights legislation. They maintain that any policy must carefully balance the rights and safety of all prisoners. The Court of Session in Edinburgh will hear three days of legal arguments on this contentious issue. According to the latest data, as of June 2025, there were 19 transgender inmates within the Scottish prison system, which holds over 8,000 people, with males constituting approximately 96% of the population.
The SPS updated its guidance in February 2024, moving away from the previous policy established in 2014. Earlier rules recommended placing prisoners according to the gender in which they currently live. The revised guidance emphasizes an individualized assessment, stating that transgender women who are biologically male and who might pose a risk to women and girls would not be placed in female prisons. The service clarifies that placement in an establishment matching a person’s affirmed gender would only occur after sufficient information is available to ensure safety.
For Women Scotland argues that the current guidance violates the 2025 Supreme Court decision, which defined sex in biological terms within the Equality Act, the UK’s principal anti-discrimination legislation. Their legal submissions emphasize that protection provisions for women exclude men, and as such, the government must guarantee women-only prison accommodations. They assert that the SPS policy unlawfully allows some biologically male prisoners who have undergone gender reassignment to be housed alongside female inmates. Meanwhile, the Scottish government highlights that the Equality Act does not mandate sex segregation nor forbid deviations from norms. They also question how For Women Scotland’s arguments would apply to transgender men, noting the Supreme Court’s acknowledgment that biological sex is not the only factor in such placement decisions. First Minister John Swinney has acknowledged the Supreme Court ruling but stated that the current prison guidance does not need revision, emphasizing the complexity of balancing competing rights and interests
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