Category: Prisons
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Briefing note on SPS Gender Identity and Gender Reassignment Policy
On Wednesday 22 February, the Scottish Parliament’s Criminal Justice Committee will take evidence from the Cabinet Secretary for Justice Keith Brown MSP and the Chief Executive of the Scottish...
16th February 2023
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MBM statement on the Scottish Prison Service urgent case review
The SPS urgent case review is not drafted for clarity. Careful reading shows that the SPS still believe that there are some male prisoners whose sex should not automatically...
10th February 2023
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Lucy Hunter Blackburn: speech to the No Males in Female Jails demonstration, 9 February 2023
“One of the first times I spoke in public on women’s rights was in June 2019, on this subject – what was happening in prisons in Scotland. I said...
9th February 2023
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Guest blog: does the Scottish Prison Service risk assessment for placing transgender prisoners protect women?
In the end, the only risk the SPS seems to be concerned about, was the risk to themselves. A guest blog by Dr Alessandra Asteriti Dr Alessandra Asteriti has...
6th February 2023
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MBM response to the Justice Secretary statement on protecting prisoners
The recent controversy over the placement of trans identified male prisoners in female prisons has thrown into sharp relief how, for the best part of a decade, the Scottish...
29th January 2023
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The SPS Equality Impact Assessment on its trans prisoner policy
This blog looks at the Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) undertaken by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) as part of developing its Gender Identity and Gender Reassignment policy. Background The...
29th January 2023
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What does the Scottish Prison Service really think about the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill
On 22 December 2022 the Scottish Parliament passed the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. The Bill amends the Gender Recognition Act 2004 for Scotland, allowing any person aged 16...
13th January 2023
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Lisa Mackenzie: speech at rally outside HMP Cornton Vale, 26 November 2022
In April 2012, I began a new job working for the Howard League for Penal Reform. In my first week, I attended the launch of the report of the...
26th November 2022
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The SPS review on trans prisoners: a chance to get policy-making in Scottish prisons back on track
This blog uses material from recently received FoI responses, supplemented by other published and unpublished sources, to consider how the current Scottish Prison Service (SPS) review of its Gender...
6th April 2022
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Opaque and overdue: the Scottish Prison Service trans prisoner policy review
This article, published by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, looks at developments on the Scottish Prison Service trans prisoner policy review between December 2018 and December 2020.
28th May 2021