Trans inmates apply makeup in a mirror in a prison unit as part of a political marketing campaign that justifies the transfer of male inmates to women’s prisons. The two men are the first to be transferred into a women’s prison in Catalonia under the new instruction. (Courtesy: Facebook)

ES — Catalonia. As “an advance in respect to the people of the trans collective,” inmates in Catalonia, Spain are now allowed to self-identify their sex, and apply for a transfer to a prison where they can serve out the sentence alongside members of the sex they claim to identify with, Minister of Justice of Catalonia, Ester Capella Farré, announced in November 2019.

Ester Capella Farré, Minister of Justice of Catalonia

In November 2014, Parliament had passed a law (link opens as pdf) guaranteeing the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersexual people, and seeking the eradication of homophobia, biphobia and transphobia. That law will now be applied to resolving the situation of trans inmates in Catalan prisons, explained Chakir El Homrani Lesfar, Minister of the Department of Labor, Social Affairs and Families.

Chakir El Homrani Lesfar, Minister of the Department of Labor, Social Affairs and Families

“These are trans women: they have a male identity document, but they feel like women,” Ms Capella Farré posted on Facebook. Several images accompanied the post. Some of the images depicted two male inmates in a prison ward applying makeup, and others showed the inmates at a meeting with a number of political figures, including Ms Capella Farré and Mr El Homrani.

“The new prison regulations allow them to serve a sentence in a prison of the sort they are identified with.”

A group of politicians meet to inscribe the first two male inmates into a women’s prison. The photos were taken as part of a publicity shoot marketing the new transgender prison instruction. (Courtesy: Facebook)

The new instruction allows inmates to apply for the transfer during processing or at any point during imprisonment.

The instruction stipulates that an inmate’s transfer request may be denied if he has a criminal history of sexual violence or sex-based violence, or if the claim to a gender identity appears to be a pretext. An inmate who had not expressed a transgender identity prior to incarceration would be accompanied by a specialist for three months, and eligible for transfer only if the specialist certifies that his faith in his gender identity is genuinely held.

Penitentiary Institutions will make the final decision on all applications.

Other countries have made similar provisions for transgender inmates in recent years.

In June 2019, the Brazilian Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transvestite, Transsexual and Intersex (ABGLT) requested a provisional injunction for “transsexuals and transvestites” to be moved out of male prisons and into women’s. The government granted the request in part, with Federal Supreme Court Justice Luís Roberto Barroso putting in place a process for male transsexuals (those who have undergone gender-affirming surgery), but not male transvestites (those who have not undergone the surgery, to be transferred to women’s prisons.

In early 2019, the United Kingdom was forced to reevaluate its transgender prison policy. Established in 2017, the policy had allowed inmates to “self-identify” and be imprisoned according to their gender identity if they expressed “a consistent desire to live permanently in the gender they identify with.” Sexual violence by transgender transferees toward female inmates led to public outcry. One of the transgender inmates, Karen White, confessed to sexually abusing four women within days of arrival at a women’s prison. Mr White had not been convicted of sexual violence against a woman or girl prior to incarceration. Following the backlash, the UK Ministry of Justice announced that it would be creating a dedicated transgender wing.

Those who wish to express their views on this policy should use the contact information below:

Ester Capella Farré

Minister of Justice of Catalonia

Facebook: EsterCapellaFarre

Twitter: estercapella

Email: Contact form

Chakir El Homrani

Minister of the Department of Labor, Social Affairs and Families

Twitter: chakirelhomrani

Email: Contact form

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