The Canadian prison system will change the way it deals with inmates who identify as transgender. New rules will mean male trans convicts can choose to serve terms in a women's prison..Scott Bardsley, spokesman for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, told CBC News Correctional Service Canada (CSC) will adjust its guidelines for policy and around gender reassignment surgery early 2023..Bardsley said every Canadian should feel safe and secure, no matter how they identify.."Our government believes everyone can live according to their gender identity and express their gender as they choose and be protected from discrimination," Bardsley told CBC News. "CSC is committed to ensuring that inmates who identify as trans have the same protection, dignity and treatment as other inmates.".The CSC clarified the policy in a directive from the Commissioner on Wednesday that said the policy's purpose is "to provide direction on procedural changes that reflect the Correctional Service of Canada’s commitment to meeting the needs of its gender diverse offender population in ways that respect their human rights and ensure their safety and dignity as well as the safety of others in the institutions and community.".The Commissioner’s Directive 100 Gender Diverse Offenders document mandates gender diversity training to staff and correctional officers. .“After completing the intake assessment process, offenders will be placed according to their gender identity or expression in a men’s or a women’s institution, if that is their preference, regardless of their [birth] sex or the gender/sex marker on their identification documents,” the directive states. .“In the event there are overriding health or safety concerns that cannot be resolved, the offender will be placed in a site that better aligns with their current [birth] sex.”.Prison staff staff must also refer to transgender prisoners by their preferred name and pronoun..Inmates will be permitted to shop for both men’s or women’s items from the prison service’s approved catalogue, whether their birth sex is male or female..Bardsley said CSC is also monitoring the progress of Bill C-16. The bill amends the Canadian Human Rights Act to include gender identity and gender expression to the list of prohibited grounds for discrimination..In 2017, Bill C-16, An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code, became law. Bill C-16 amended the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code. This bill “protects individuals from discrimination within the sphere of federal jurisdiction, as well as protecting against hate propaganda and hate crimes, on the basis of gender identity and gender expression.”.Personalized protocols will also be made available to transgender prisoners. It will mean special accommodations when accessing shower and toilet facilities, it also ensures inmates can choose a male or female correctional officer for frisking, strip searches, urine testing, and video surveillance..The changes are likely to be controversial. Transgender inmates have previously been convicted of sexual assault against female inmates in the UK and in the US..Transgender inmate in the UK, Karen White, 52, who was described as being a danger to women and children, admitted to sexually assaulting women in a female prison in 2018..In the US in 2021, a controversy erupted over the placement of transgender females in prisons alongside women. It involved multiple rape allegations after a judge forced the male inmate to be placed with women..WTTW reported that a Jane Doe inmate at Illinois’ Logan Correctional Center filed a federal lawsuit against officials with the state Department of Corrections (IDOC) for allegedly allowing her to be sexually assaulted by Andre Patterson, a male inmate who identifies as a woman under the name Janiah Monroe..On March 26, the Parole Board of Canada confirmed a female prisoner’s report that she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by Steve Melenbacher, a biological male prisoner incarcerated in the Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ontario. .Melenbacher was charged with sexual assault over the incident.
