It’s no. A transgender woman who changed her gender while in prison but did not undergo a surgical transition must serve her sentence in a men’s facility, a Danish appeals court ruled on Wednesday.
The Eastern High Court of Denmark considered that the prisoner’s presence in a women’s prison “would pose a not insignificant security risk to female prisoners”.
Searched naked by men
The 62-year-old inmate had her marital status changed from male to female in 2015 while incarcerated due to aggravated , among other things. She had filed a lawsuit against the Danish prison service and Hestedvester prison, located in the Copenhagen metropolitan area, but two courts decided that she should serve her sentence in a male-only unit, a decision upheld by the court. Eastern High Court.
Danish law provides that the search of an undressed prisoner must be carried out by a person of the same sex. The Eastern High Court said the fact that the detainee was ‘strip searched by men’ and had to ‘provide a urine sample’ under the supervision of men did not breach the Enforcement Act. penalties, because the reference to gender in the law must be “understood as biological sex”.
This court also ruled that the inmate’s placement in a male unit did not violate her rights, as it was not based on non-recognition of legal gender, but on a safety essment.