A transgender woman has been found dead in an all-male prison, just two months after a government of the system supposedly introduced safeguards for trans prisoners.
The UK government had promised a review in 2015 of the way trans people in prisons are dealt with, after two female prisoners died within weeks of each other while being held in all-male facilities.
The review finished in November, with the Ministry of Justice introducing ‘safeguards’ to ensure that transgender people would not be put at risk in prisons inconsistent with their gender.
But despite the safeguards, a transgender inmate was found dead last inside HMP Doncaster in South Yorkshire.
Jenny Swift, who identified as female, died on December 30, less than two months after she was sent to the men-only prison.
An investigation into the death is ongoing. Authorities believe the death was a suicide.
A friend of Swift told the Sheffield Star that she grown depressed after denied hormones behind bars – despite the government review specifying prisoners should receive “items that enable their gender expression”.
The friend alleged: “She kept asking for the hormones and they said she would get them but she never did. I phoned up and explained that she needed them too.
“Jenny said that not having them was making her legs shake, making her feel sad and ill – she said it was like coming off drugs. It made her miserable.”
Source: Pink News