Sex change man wants women’s prison

A TRANSSEXUAL prisoner serving life for manslaughter and attempted rape committed while she was a man claimed in court yesterday the refusal of the authorities to move her to a women’s prison was a violation of her human rights.

The prisoner, who cannot be identified, was described by her lawyer in the High Court as “a woman trapped inside a man’s body”.

A judge heard that, although apparently born male, “A” had her womanhood recognised by law and her birth certificate had been amended to show her female sex.

Barrister Phillipa Kaufman told Deputy Judge David Elvin QC that hair on A’s face and legs had been permanently removed by laser and she had developed breasts after hormone treatment.

But she was forbidden from wearing skirts or blouses, or more than “subtle” make up, at the men’s prison where she was being held on a “vulnerable prisoners’” wing.

To complete her change to full womanhood, she required gender reassignment surgery, but had been told she could not have it while she remained in a men’s prison.

The court heard the prisoner’s female sex had been recognised under the Gender Recognition Act 2004.

The case continues.