Blanket rule on trans women in men’s prisons would deny their identity, says Scottish government

The campaign group For Women Scotland have taken the SNP to court over its policy on where transgender prisoners are housed. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

A blanket rule to house transgender women in men’s prisons, even when they pose no risk to others, would be a “fundamental denial” of their identity, the Scottish government has argued.

Placing a trans inmate in a prison that does not align with their lived gender runs counter to the aims of rehabilitation, Gerry Moynihan KC said on Thursday as he set out Scottish ministers’ position that a blanket rule on where prisoners are housed could contravene obligations under the European convention on human rights.