Category: Women’s Prisons
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The Hidden Cost of Gender Ideology in Australian Prisons: Women’s Safety Sacrificed
Over the past months, a series of highly publicised cases across multiple Australian jurisdictions has raised grave concerns about prison placement policies that allow male prisoners to be housed in women’s correctional facilities on the basis of gender identity or legal sex change rather than biological sex. In several documented instances, these policies have coincided…
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Lessons from the Harwood Case: How to Protect Vulnerable Prisoners Without Compromising Women’s Safety
Women Speak Tasmania (WST) does not support the housing of trans-identifying males in female prisons. However, we recognise the vulnerability of individuals who identify as transgender and acknowledge the complex challenges they face in custody. We have reviewed in detail the findings of the Coroner’s inquiry into the death of Marjorie Harwood, and we understand…
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Protecting Women in Prison: Tasmania Must Follow the Northern Territory’s Lead
Women Speak Tasmania welcomes the strong leadership shown by Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro, who has announced that born males will no longer be placed in women’s prisons. The NT is now the first jurisdiction in Australia to take decisive action to protect the safety and dignity of female inmates. Chief Minister Finocchiaro’s clear…
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Why Women’s Safety Must Be Central to Tasmania’s Prison Policy
Equality Tasmania welcomed the Custodial Inspector’s concern about the safety of LGBTIQA+ prisoners, following reports of assaults against gay men in Tasmanian prisons. In a December 2024 statement, Equality Tasmania spokesperson Rodney Croome said the organisation was “alarmed by repeated cases of abuse and violence against LGBTIQA+ people” and called for stronger policies and training…
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A Win for Women: Tasmania Records Rape Statistics by Sex
At Women Speak Tasmania, we never stop speaking up for the safety and dignity of women—especially those in vulnerable situations like female prisons. Protecting women’s spaces means making sure policy and law are grounded in reality, not ideology. Recently, we wrote to Deputy Premier, Attorney General and Minister for Justice Guy Barnett with a simple…