Prisoners: Men
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many biologically male prisoners are currently held in the female prison estate.
Answered by Jake Richards
For transgender women with birth genitalia and/or any history of violent or sexual offending to be held in the general female prison estate, the decision must be signed off by the Secretary of State. None of these decisions have been made under the current government.
There are currently fewer than five prisoners assigned male at birth who are held in the general women’s estate. The exact figure cannot be provided without breaching data protection legislation obligations. There is a unit for transgender women, known as E Wing, co-located with HMP Downview that is not part of the general female estate which held six prisoners as of 1 June 2026.
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