Stressing that transgender prisoners are “a highly vulnerable segment of the prison population”, the Council of Europe body says that the divergence of criteria in each State regarding this minority is “a challenge” that must be addressed.

Placement in prisons and prison wings is based, in some cases, on self-identification and declaration, in others on legal recognition and still others on gender affirmation surgery, says the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) in its annual report, released today, when mentioning the different criteria applied in the European area.

"Few States have specific policies and legislation to guide prison authorities in the placement of transgender persons", which is "often done on a case-by-case basis, subject to an individual risk assessment", warns the report.

For the CPT, transgender people "should be accommodated in the prison section corresponding to the gender with which they identify".

In addition, the committee argues, "transgender prisoners should be consulted about their placement preference during the admission procedure and have the option of keeping their gender identity confidential".

Last year, the CPT visited prisons in almost 20 countries: Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg, Malta, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and Ukraine.

During the visits, the Council of Europe body found transgender women held in male sections who said they "did not feel safe" and some claimed "to have been sexually abused and assaulted by other prisoners or verbally abused by staff".

In some countries, the CPT also met with transgender women who reported that they were often not allowed to shower at different times than male prisoners and felt humiliated by being called by their male names or prohibited from wearing female clothing.

"Transgender inmates should be allowed to wear clothing associated with their self-identified gender and to be addressed by prison staff by their chosen name", the committee considers, adding that prison administrations should also address them by their preferred names, titles and pronouns, "irrespective of official documents".

National and prison authorities must also "ensure that all prison staff are trained to understand and meet the specific needs of trans persons and the risks to which they are exposed in the prison environment", it adds.

"It is worrying that some States still deny the existence of transgender persons and do not provide for specific arrangements for their treatment in prison, which may expose them to ill-treatment", regrets the committee, which urges national authorities to adopt policies to prevent and combat ill-treatment.

The committee also stresses that national laws should provide for the recognition of persons of a gender different from the one assigned at birth, allowing self-identification to be sufficient for the prison administration to treat the person as such.

The Council of Europe was founded in 1949 to defend Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law and currently has 46 member States, including all the countries that make up the European Union (EU).

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