Balanced News: Perth judge in sentencing dilemma as transgender woman complains of treatment in male prison

The Perth District Court Judge, Nicholas Egan, was struggling to decide the sentencing of a transgender woman, as she did not know how to proceed with her case due to confusion over her legal gender. The woman had a gender recognition certificate which stated that she was female, but she was being held in an all-male prison despite identifying as a woman. The woman’s defence lawyer, Lisa Riley, told the court her client had filed complaints with the Equal Opportunities Commission and the WA Ombudsman over her treatment at the prison. Riley said her client had been subjected to strip searches by male officers, which Egan said he wanted detailed in the report. Egan also wanted to know if there were any legislative requirements, guidelines, policies or international agreements which required that female remandees and female prisoners were to be housed in a female prison as opposed to a male prison.