UPDATE: No decision made on trans inmate Tara Hudson’s future in men’s prison
By Will Stroude
UPDATE: While we, and many other media outlets, reported this morning that transgender woman Tara Hudson would be moved to a women’s unit for the remainder of her sentence, it now appears these were false – or at least premature – reports.
Hudson is remaining at the men-only prison HMP Bristol, the Bath Chronicle reports.
Mail Online and the Independent were among the major media outlets reporting this morning that Tara Hudson is to be moved to an all-women prison – but a Prison Service spokesman this morning told the Bath Chronicle that no decision has been made regarding transferring her.
Hudson was sentenced to 12 weeks in a Category B Bristol men’s prison last Friday (October 23) after pleading guilty to assault at a bar last Christmas, sparking concerns for her safety and a campaign calling for her immediate transferal.
The 26-year-old has lived as a woman her entire adult life, undergone hormone therapy, six years of gender reassignment surgery and been medically declared a woman by her doctor – but was sent to the all-male prison after magistrates based their decision on the gender still listed in her passport.
Bath Conservative MP Ben Howlett – who raised the issue with Parliament’s Women and Equalities Select Committee yesterday (Octover 28) – had previously said of the case: “We’re doing all we can in order to get Tara out of that all-male environment and into an all-female environment.
“We have a serious problem when it comes to the prison service – Tara isn’t on her own and for those people who are self-identifying the law is not in place to protect those people.”
The Prison Service has now announced that Ms Hudson will serve the remainder of her sentence in a women’s unit after after tens of thousands signed a change.org petition calling for her transferal to a gender-appropriate prison.
A Prison Service spokesperson said: “It is long-standing policy to place offenders according to their legally recognised gender. However, our guidelines allow room for discretion, and in such cases medical experts will review the circumstances in order to protect the emotional well-being of the person concerned.”
Ms Hudson has also been given leave to appeal against the sentence itself, and is set to appear before Bristol Crown Court on Friday to arguing for a non-custodial sentence.
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