In the first big test for new Justice Secretary David Lammy, it has been revealed that five trans women are being held in a women’s prison in Surrey, where they are able to mix with female prisoners. This flies in the face of the Supreme Court ruling from April, which establishes beyond doubt that trans women are male, not to mention a long-running campaign to get men out of the women’s estate.

So why are these men still in HMP Downview? Common sense dictates that men should be in men’s prisons, in a separate wing for trans women if it’s considered necessary for their safety. The fact that a segregated block for trans women opened at Downview as recently as 2019, instead of in the men’s estate, shows the blinkered attitudes that have pervaded the criminal justice system for years.

Female prisoners are among the most vulnerable women in the country. According to the domestic abuse commissioner, more than half of the women in prison or on probation (57%) are survivors of male violence. Many have suffered traumatic brain injuries. It’s hard to believe that anyone in positions of power ever imagined they should be locked up with men, in a situation where they can’t escape or defend themselves.

But that’s what’s happened — and is still happening. Shortages of staff mean there’s insufficient supervision of male prisoners when they are mixing with women at HMP Downview, according to the prison’s independent monitoring board. Most people will be aghast to learn that that’s what “segregation” means.

So, will Lammy act? The answer will have an impact well beyond the immediate issue, raising questions about his suitability for the Justice brief. His removal from the Foreign Office earlier this month was an obvious demotion, sweetened by the gift of the deputy prime minister title, and his record on women’s rights is alarming.

In 2021 Lammy said he believes that trans women can take hormones to grow a cervix (neck of the womb), an organ which males don’t have. He has characterized women fighting for sex-based rights as “dinosaurs hoarding rights”, effectively dismissing a struggle — about sex-based language in courts, for instance — of key importance to his new brief. He was also the minister who steered the 2004 Gender Recognition Act through the House of Commons, a legislative first that allowed men to lie about their sex on official documents.

This history explains why the Labour government is dragging its feet in response to the unequivocal Supreme Court judgment. For years, Shadow Cabinet members cosied up to Stonewall, bemoaned the “indignity” of the process of obtaining a gender recognition certificate, and were cheered by activists when they intoned that “trans women are women.” Lammy’s predecessor as deputy PM, Angela Rayner, was never happier than when she was draped in the Pride flag, taking an embarrassed-looking Keir Starmer with her.

The favourite to succeed Rayner, Lucy Powell, is another true believer in gender ideology. Activists in the party seem ready to forgive an episode earlier this year when Powell was forced to backtrack after characterizing a question about a documentary revealing the activities of grooming gangs as a “dog whistle”.

Six months ago, Labour ministers had an opportunity to make a difference for women and girls. They could have said that everyone — local authorities, Government departments, hospitals, the police, the courts and prisons — should act immediately to remove policies based on false interpretations of the law.

They didn’t. They hid behind the need to wait for advice from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, even though the law is clear. And that’s why vulnerable women in HMP Downview are being forced to mix with men who shouldn’t even be there.

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Joan Smith is a novelist and columnist. She was previously Chair of the Mayor of London’s Violence Against Women and Girls Board, and is on the advisory group for Sex Matters. Her book Unfortunately, She Was A Nymphomaniac: A New History of Rome’s Imperial Women was published in November 2024.

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