Debate contribution: Custodial Facilities: Protection of Rights and Safety

Debate contribution by Mr Stephen Dunne on 20 January 2025.

MLA

Mr Stephen Dunne

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

20 January 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Custodial Facilities: Protection of Rights and Safety

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4744361

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion, which seeks to balance the rights, dignity and safety of all individuals across Northern Ireland. We must continue to advocate for the preservation of safe and accessible women-only spaces, including in prisons, as a matter of fairness and equality. Safeguarding and protection must come first. The need for safe spaces extends widely across our society and, indeed, beyond our prisons and custodial facilities. It includes places such as changing rooms, toilets and sports pitches, to name but a few. Over recent years, we have seen a growing need for clarity and certainty when dealing with such a sensitive issue. The proposer of the motion mentioned sports and some of the issues around that. It was interesting to note recent comments from Lord Coe, World Athletics president, when he said on the issue of trans policy in sports, as an example —.

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for that, and I will continue. The Minister will have her time later, I am sure. I know that she is keen to get involved in the debate, as we have already heard. What I was saying gives a bit of context and shows that the issue does not relate solely to our Prison Service. As an example, Lord Coe said about sports:

"the International Olympic Committee needs a very, very clear policy in this space. And the protection of the female category, for me, is absolutely non-negotiable."

That gives some context to the scale of the issue and its importance across so many sectors of society. It is not related to solely the Northern Ireland Prison Service. We have seen changes in recent years to promote fairness and equity across genders. There is no doubt that permitting biological males to reside among a female prisoner population carries risks that would undermine protections and could have serious consequences for the safety and dignity of women. An article in 'The Telegraph' last year stated that more than 70% of transgender prisoners in UK mainland jails were serving sentences for sex offences and violent crimes. That highlights the significance of the issue. As others have said, the welfare of everyone in custody must be paramount. We pay tribute to the dedicated staff in our Prison Service who deal with complex issues daily. The very basis, as has been mentioned, for the creation of women-only facilities, including in prisons, was that their specific needs could be best catered for. Unfortunately, many will have experienced trauma or abuse. We need to look at the evidence from across the globe, including the UK. In March 2023, former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that Ireland may have to consider changing the law so that "women are protected". That links in with harrowing and horrific examples that we have seen in other parts of the UK, including in Scotland recently. In the Chamber last week, we rightly spent several hours in collective agreement on the need to protect women and girls. I believed that we had reached a consensus that the rights and safety of women must always remain paramount. The motion and the amendment reflect a commitment to safeguarding women's spaces and rights in a manner that is consistent with fairness and equality. The motion raises an issue of profound importance in the justice system. When individuals are placed in custody, they are already in a vulnerable position. Many women and girls who come into contact with the justice system are vulnerable and have a range of complex and sensitive needs, often as a result of physical, sexual or domestic trauma or abuse. It is imperative that the system responsible for their care make every effort not to add to that vulnerability, particularly of those who may already feel unsafe.

I believe that allowing biological males among such prisoners carries risks and could undermine the protections for the dignity and safety of all prisoners in our custodial facilities; indeed, the recent High Court case highlighted the difficulties with the current policy gap in regard to transgender people in custody. As I said, we need clarity and certainty, and this space provides an opportunity for our Justice Minister to provide that clarity and a clear direction to ensure the protection of rights and safety in our custodial facilities.

714 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Qualifying Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:47 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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