Initial reflections after the trans prison JR hearing

1) Good data collection matters - how can there be a workable policy on how to deal with transwomen with a GRC when the MOJ doesn't even know how many there are in prison. /1
2) Having a GRC is more than 'just admin'. MOJ says its a 'weighty matter' when it comes to making decisions about balancing risks

In essence, having a GRC enables a high risk male-born sex offender to get supervised association with women without their consent /2
3) This is the first time court has considered the interactions between the GRA2004 and EA2010 single sex exceptions. Turns out its not as straightforward as Stonewall has been telling everyone.... /3 🤔
4) Judges were not impressed with the quality of the MOJ data collection and did not like the defences claim that they only have 'anecdotal' evidence of how many trans with GRC there are in prison /4
I hope the MOJ are glad @fairplaywomen pushed them to start gathering the data they do now collect - otherwise it would have looked even worse for them

They wouldn't have any sex disaggregated data on trans prisoners or % of sex offenders if we hadn't extracted it from them /5

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More from @fairplaywomen

3 Mar
Todays court case is ground breaking. Its the first time the interaction between GRA2004 and EA2010 single-sex exceptions has been discussed in court.

Its clear that MOJ thinks having a GRC carries weight when it comes to the proportionality threshold for single-sex exceptions/1
The court will return its view on due course. But what's clear already is that Stonewalls claim that a GRC is "just admin" is nonsense /2
They say having a GRC makes no difference to someone's access to single sex spaces.

Yet today we hear in court that having a GRC buys male sex offenders the right to some 'association with women'.

Never again tell us that a GRC is 'just admin' /3
Read 6 tweets
3 Mar
#womensprisonJR

So many red flags in this trans prison policy judicial review concerning bad data collection.

MOJ have no central list of exactly how many male-born trans are in the women's estate because they don't count the ones with GRCs. /1
If a prisoner doesn't disclose they have a GRC - and pretends the were born female - there is simply no way for prison authorities to prove any different /2
How can MOJ have a policy on a cohort of prisoners that they can't identify or count. /3
Read 7 tweets
3 Mar
#womensprisonJR

Discussions happening around whether a policy decision taken without knowledge of all relevant information can be lawful

Was it unlawful that SSJ approved the trans prison policy without being made aware than the single-sex exceptions could have been included/1
The trans prison policy does not allow for consideration of all relevant risks - the opportunity to assess whether excluding a transwomen from women's prison can meet the proportionately test /2
The need for the policy to avoid discrimination to female prisoners must be fully justified. Not just the need to house transwomen somewhere. /3
Read 61 tweets
2 Mar
REVIEW OF DAY 1 OF TRANS PRISON POLICY JR
It was just a short afternoon of evidence today. Problems with the audio on the remote link meant that both barristers had to relocate into Court and join the two judges; Justice Swift and Justice Holroyde /1
Karon Monaghan QC set our the claimants case. This included extracts from the Fair Play For Women witness statement. This included the work we have done to obtain transgender prisoner statistics and the high rate of sex offending associated with that cohort /2
Fair Play For Women has engaged with MOJ as a stakeholder representative on behalf of women. As part of that work we attended a meeting in May 2019 to preview the new transgender policy /3
Read 13 tweets
2 Mar
GOOD NEWS: Today we have received an order from the Court listing our case for next Tuesday (9 March).

We will be arguing for interim relief from the Court such that the ONS is ordered to immediately take down the Guidance pending judicial review /1
In that same hearing we will also be asking for permission to proceed to Judicial Review to declare the Guidance unlawful /2
Our primary and most urgent objective is make sure the Census runs without guidance that conflates sex and gender identity. This means the Guidance could be gone this time next week. Just 12 days before Census Day on 21 March /3
Read 7 tweets
2 Mar
#womensprisonJR

Case begins
Claimants barrister - Karon Monaghan QC
Sets out the laws relating to the case - EA2010 and GRA2004
/1
Next KM explains the prison statistics in relation to women and transwomen. /2
KM reads out trans prison statistics- including many of the figures from the @fairplaywomen witness statement.
/3
Read 26 tweets

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