The Northern Territory has banned trans offenders from being incarcerated in female prisons, following complaints of ‘deeply troubling cases’.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro made the announcement on Monday, marking the first occasion an Australian state or territory leader has introduced such a ban.
‘There should be no men in women’s prisons, full stop,’ she told The Australian.
‘In the Northern Territory, there are no males in women’s prisons and that will remain the case under my administration. We’ve implemented clear guidelines on this matter.
‘The previous Labor approach was weaker, but we are making it unequivocally clear: if you are biologically male, then you will be housed in a men’s prison.’
Finocchiaro claimed the move was to protect women’s dignity, including the thorny issue with domestic violence across Australia.
‘If you’re born a bloke, you go into a men’s prison. At the end of the day, this is really about women’s safety,’ she said.
‘Given the rampant issue of domestic violence in our country and the persistent victimization of women, this policy addresses a grave national concern.’
Following concerns over ‘deeply troubling cases,’ the Northern Territory has prohibited trans women from being held in female prisons (pictured: Darwin Correctional Centre).
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro made the announcement on Monday, becoming the first Australian government leader to introduce such a ban
Finocchiaro added she thought it was ‘absurd to think that people would be putting men equipped with male genitalia in women’s prisons’.
In most states and territories in Australia, corrections policies put inmates in prisons that match their stated gender identity.
However, Finocchiaro’s policy shift aligns with advocacy from the Women’s Forum of Australia, a think tank with ties to religious and conservative factions.
Chief executive Rachael Wong published an open letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and all state and territory premiers and chief ministers on Monday, describing trans inmates in women’s prisons as ‘a national human rights crisis’.
‘It is a betrayal of the women Australia’s leaders have pledged to protect,’ the letter said. ‘It is a breach of international human rights law. And it is a moral stain on our justice system.’
The letter referred to two high-profile cases of trans women in female prisons as evidence for the need for change.
A 29-year-old woman, referred to as Katie in media reports, was allegedly sexually assaulted by her trans cellmate Krista Richards at a South Australia prison.
Autumn Tulip Harper, a 26-year-old trans paedophile father, was allocated to a women’s prison in Victoria after being convicted of abusing her five-year-old daughter
In a separate case, Autumn Tulip Harper, a 26-year-old trans paedophile father, was allocated to a women’s prison in Victoria after being convicted of abusing her five-year-old daughter.
Prompted by the two incidents, the forum demanded the immediate removal of trans women from female prisons across the country.
‘If other states want to be confused by this, that’s a matter for them to justify to their communities, but we won’t be confused by this woke agenda that is being driven by Labor governments around the country,’ Finocchiaro said.
‘This is the consequence of ideologically driven law and policy at state and federal level.
‘Labor is obsessed with social engineering as a distraction from doing what this country actually needs.’
