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Gender and prison

Placement of transgender prisoners touches on questions of personal safety, safety of fellow inmates, legal sex registration and the role of medical transition..

Policy issue

Placement of transgender prisoners touches on questions of personal safety, safety of fellow inmates, legal sex registration and the role of medical transition.

Netherlands

In the Netherlands, the Custodial Institutions Agency takes gender identity into account when placing prisoners, with individual risk assessment. Legal sex registration plays a role but is not decisive.

International

Policy varies widely by country. In the United Kingdom in 2023, a number of incidents led to stricter placement rules, where prisoners with a history of sexual violence are in principle not placed in women's prisons, regardless of legal sex registration.