Trans woman sent to men’s prison released from jail
Tara Hudson left prison with her mother earlier today.
Tara Hudson left prison earlier today with her mother Jackie Brooklyn greeting her daughter at the gates.
Hudson served half of her twelve week sentence, but the her mother claims the experience has changed her daughter for the better.
“I think it’s done her quite good because hopefully she’s had time to reflect,” Ms Brooklyn told the Bath Chronicle.
“I just don’t want her to drink again because drinking can cause loads of trouble. It’s a very dangerous substance.”
Hudson was originally sent to serve her sentence in Bristol Prison, an all male facility.
It was reported that she was sentenced to prison after assaulting a bar manager in her home town of Bath.
However, after a petition reached over 150,000 signatures and many prominent MPs and transgender activists spoke out the decision was made to relocate Hudson to an all female facility where she was kept ‘separated’ from the main prison population.
The case of Tara Hudson was also raised during the Women and Equalities select committee’s inquiry on transgender equality by Hudson’s MP Ben Howlett.
The prison service currently determines placement of transgender prisoners based on ownership of a Gender Recognition Certificate – which Hudson does not have.
Last month, the Women and Equalities Select Committee heard oral evidence from trans people calling the current process for being awarded a Gender Recognition Certificate “humiliating” and “incredibly stressful”.
Existing law currently makes provisions for trans prisoners without a GRC to be sent to the prison of their preferred gender – but activists have warned that the rules are not always consistently taken into account.
The government has pledged full support to an ongoing review of the procedures surrounding the handling of trans inmates.
However, ministers last week resisted calls from peers to take emergency action to assess the location of the current transgender prison population.
Earlier this month trans prisoner Vicky Thompson was found dead in her cell after she was also sent to a male facility. She also did not have a Gender Recognition Certificate.
Last week, a second trans prisoner, Joanne Latham was found hanged at the HMP Woodhill prison in Milton Keynes.
