Transgender woman 'detained in men's prison and refused access to hormones' is released on bail

A transgender woman who was arrested in East London and detained in a men's prison has been released and a court date set for spring.

The woman was reportedly denied access to hormone replacement therapy in police custody following her arrest on February 4, and was then transferred to HM Thameside Prison, a men's facility in Greenwich, south-east London.

More than 2,900 people signed a petition on Change.org calling for her to be moved to a gender-appropriate facility, but she was released on bail on Monday 8 February following a hearing at Thames Magistrates Court in Bow. The petition had called for the woman to be provided access to her HRT, housed in an appropriate prison and an equalities impact assessment to be carried out so that the woman was properly cared for.

In a statement, a prison service spokesperson had said guidelines on the imprisonment of transgender people were being reviewed. The spokesperson explained: "We are reviewing our guidelines to see what improvements can be made to the way we manage the safety and wellbeing of transgender prisoners. The revised guidelines will be published in due course."

Following the woman's release, petition organiser Ginger Farbrother wrote: "After court today she was released on bail and a future court date has been set for spring. Thank you all for the solidarity, it has been overwhelming."