We have launched this petition with the go-ahead of Jackie, Tara's mother.



Overview:



Tara Hudson, a 26-year old transgender woman from Bath who has lived as a woman for her whole adult life and has undergone six years of gender reconstruction surgery, has been sent to an all-male prison.

In an era of unprecedented victories for LGBT rights, people like Tara Hudson are still paying a high price at the hands of an outdated and outmoded judicial system, simply for being who they are.

We call upon Bath magistrates and the British judicial system as a whole, to immediately address the dangers Ms Hudson is facing, and amend her sentence that she may spend it in an all-woman’s prison instead.

Petition:

We, the undersigned, stand with Tara and her family and believe that this decision is in breach of her Human Rights, and places her in extreme danger of abuse, sexual violence, and even death.

We believe that Tara’s situation is one which must be addressed immediately, and refer to the following focus points which mean she is at severe risk of both physical and mental harm:

She has undergone 6 years of reconstructive surgery

She has lived her entire adult life as a woman

She has been medically declared a woman by her doctor

She has received hormone treatment

She has received treatment for depression

She has utilised care services from a social worker

She is being sent to a prison where HM Inspectorate of Prisons, when they carried out an inspection last year, said levels of violence had risen since their last visit and "were now considerably higher than in similar prisons". The inspectors also reported that "not enough was being done to protect some vulnerable prisoners".

Trans campaigners estimate that there are between 20 and 30 trans individuals in UK prisons at any time, and that they are some of the most at-risk members of the incarceration system. In fact, transgender women in male prisons are 13 times more likely to be sexually assaulted than in the general population, with 59 percent reporting sexual assaults, according to a frequently cited US study.

According to Amnesty International, globally, LGBT prisoners and those perceived to be LGBT, are at risk of torture, ill-treatment and violence from other inmates as well as prison officials.

Trans people are also at a much higher risk of mental health issues than the rest of the populace. In 2014, a survey found that 48% of trans people under 26 said they had attempted suicide, and 30% said they had done so in the past year, while 59% said they had at least considered doing so. By comparison, about 6% of all 16- to 24-year-olds say they have attempted suicide, according to the Adult Psychiatry Morbidity Survey.

We call upon Bath magistrates and the British judicial system as a whole, to immediately address the dangers Ms Hudson is facing, and amend her sentence that she may spend it in an all-woman’s prison instead.