Male rapist passes before court and is sent to women’s prison as a transgender woman

A transgender woman from the United Kingdom who was convicted of raping two women when she was a man is sent to a women’s prison awaiting sentencing, prompting an outcry from activists, politicians and even United Nations officials.

Isla Bryson from Scotland found guilty this week of committing rape when previously named Adam Graham, a “muscular” man with a shaved head and a face tattoo, according to a Daily Mail report. Bryson denied the accusations, telling the Glasgow High Court that all sex was consensual and that she “would never harm another person.”

However, prosecutors successfully proved to jurors in a six-day trial that Bryson, 31, attacked one victim in 2016 and another in 2019. Both crimes were committed in Scotland.

The defendant first appeared in court as Adam Graham and was referred to as such in a 2020 court indictment. According to British press reports, later that year she decided to switch.

Bryson stated in court that she knew she was transgender at the age of 4, but did not make the decision to transition until she was 29. She told jurors that Adam Graham was her “dead name”.

Now Bryson is taking hormones and is going to have sex reassignment surgery.

She is currently being held at Cornton Vale Women’s Prison, where she is reportedly being held in isolation pending her sentencing at the end of February. In Cortona, a convicted rapist will undergo a risk assessment to determine whether she will serve her final prison sentence in a women’s or men’s prison.

If Bryson is sent to a women’s prison for the duration of her sentence, it is unclear if she will remain in isolation. Some observers argued that being held in solitary confinement indefinitely would violate her human rights.

For critics, however, such debates are irrelevant.

“This rapist only decided he was no longer a man after he was put on trial for rape,” said Russell Findley, a Conservative member of the Scottish Parliament. “Now we have a completely twisted situation where a Scottish court is referring to someone who claims to identify himself as a woman using ‘his penis’ to rape two vulnerable women. We warned of the inevitability of this if the SNP’s Gender Identification Law was passed, but that it has become a reality is deeply disturbing and insulting to the victims.”

Findlay meant bill passed by the Scottish Parliament last month, which allows people as young as 16 to receive a gender recognition certificate to validate their legal gender change after having lived in their new gender for just three months — and without the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria.

Stay up to date with today’s most important news

Stay up to date with the latest news with the Evening Update.

The UK government has officially taken action to block the passage of the law, leading to a dispute that may have to be resolved in court.

Members of the British Parliament also spoke out against the idea of ​​sending Bryson to a women’s prison.

“To many, this convicted rapist will feel like he cheated the system to try and win sympathy and end up in a women’s prison,” Joanna Cherry, a Scottish politician and chair of the Joint Human Rights Committee, told the Times. Radio. “Women in prison are very vulnerable. Many women in prison have themselves been abused and injured over the years. … I am very concerned about the safety of the female prisoners with whom the convicted rapist is placed.”

Meanwhile, Susan Smith of For Women Scotland said it was “disgusting” that Bryson was being held in Cornton Vale; Reem Alsalem, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls, said she “recalls we have been told many times that the idea that predatory and violent men might want to take advantage of loopholes in the system and lax security to enter the places reserved for women were laughable.”

Despite such opposition, some officials expressed support and confidence in the decision to send Bryson to a women’s prison.

“The fact is that the Scottish Prison Service has a lot of experience – I’m talking about 20 years or more – assessing the risks in our prisons, including those associated with the presence of trans prisoners – both for the trans prisoners themselves and for other prisoners,” said Scottish Justice Minister Keith Brown. “They don’t do this job quickly. They do this over a period of time, involving many different organizations. They do a full risk assessment and they [make] decisions based on it.

No matter where Bryson is in prison, it looks like she will be there for a long time.

“You were found guilty on two extremely serious charges. Considering what you were convicted for, a significant term of imprisonment is inevitable,” the judge told her in court. “I’ll cancel bail and leave you in custody in the meantime.”

Content Source

News Press Ohio – Latest News:
Columbus Local News || Cleveland Local News || Ohio State News || National News || Money and Economy News || Entertainment News || Tech News || Environment News

Related Articles

Back to top button