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Calls for Trans woman to be removed from all-male prison

Cheryl Morgan of the group said: “You can see from the strength of support from the petition that it’s daft that someone who looks like that and has a female body can be stuck in a male prison”.

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The decision by magistrates sparked outrage after her family and campaigners raised fears over her safety.

A petition calling for Miss Hudson to be moved to an all-women prison has reached 30,000 signatures as of Wednesday at 8am.

“Trans and other LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender) people are fighting a constant battle against oppressive systems and ideologies, and this can be so exhausting and disheartening”, she said.

Tara Hudson, 26, from Bath, was sentenced to 12 weeks in jail after admitting assault.

The woman’s mother, Jackie Brooklyn, said she was “horrified” after finding out where her daughter was being incarcerated. “She needs to know that people are in her corner and we need to put as much pressure as possible on the authorities, to let them know that this could be life-threatening to this poor woman”.

Her mother condemned the move and says her daughter’s own doctor in Britain has confirmed that she is now a woman.

She said: “she’s been through a hard time and this could set her right back”.

‘We think it’s totally outrageous.

“As I understand it, Tara has lived all her adult life as a female”.

Concern has also been expressed that she is being sent to a prison where HM Inspectorate of Prisons, when they carried out an inspection previous year, said levels of violence had risen since their last visit and “were now considerably higher than in similar prisons”.

“Tara, who has previously suffered from mental ill health, is certainly going to feel extremely vulnerable and be disturbed by the experience of being in a male prison, and evidence suggests at great risk of assault”.

“I just want to get my daughter into a safe, female environment where she belongs and will continue to fight the decision”.

Only yesterday, a prison watchdog said HMP Bristol had an “unsafe if not dangerous” atmosphere and “violence, confrontation and tension” stemming from drug problems in the prison.

‘There are strict rules in place to ensure transsexual prisoners are managed safely and in accordance with the law’.

“Within NOMS there is a provision for transgender inmates, who do not have a Gender Recognition Certificate, to still be housed within the prison estate, under the gender they live if they are likely to meet the criteria required for a Gender Recognition Certificate”.

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They said not enough was being done to “investigate individual violent incidents” and the prison was not dealing with perpetrators and victims.

Tim-Farron