DONCASTER PRISON is expected to be surrounded by campaigners today in protest against the treatment of a transgender inmate who committed suicide last month.

Jenny Swift, 49, was incarcerated in the men’s prison in South Yorkshire despite having lived as a woman.

For three years she was prescribed hormone medication, but this ceased when she was jailed despite repeated requests for treatment. Her requests to move to the women’s prison were also denied.

Ms Swift faced a charge of attempted murder. She was accused of stabbing a man in Yorkshire last year.

She was found dead in her prison cell on December 30, just two days before new guidelines for the treatment of trans prisoners were published which included a strong recommendation to treat trans prisoners according to the gender in which they identify.

The protest, which starts at 4pm, has been organised by three groups: No Prisons Manchester, Action for Trans Health, and Queer Agenda Sheffield.

Denying Ms Swift the hormone medication she had been taking went against NHS guidelines, the groups said in a statement.

They added: “The protest is planned to coincide with Trans Prisoner Day of Action and Solidarity, an annual international event protesting the treatment of trans and non-binary prisoners.

The groups said that admiting trans prisoners to the “wrong gender facilities” causes “extreme psychological distress and loss of dignity, as well as putting them at risk of violence by other prisoners.”

Other groups have raised concerns that placing male-bodied inmates in women’s prisons can put women at reater risk of violence.

Protesters plan to make noise that would be heard from inside the prison. The event will take place after visiting hours to avoid disrupting prison routine.

The groups also oppose the construction of two “mega prisons” in Manchester and Leicester, arguing that prisoner numbers should be decreased, not increased.

Higher incarceration rates do not lead to lower crime rates and prisons do little to rehabilitate inmates, they also said.
A second demo will also be held at Pentonville Prison, London, at 6pm.

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