ABSTRACT
This chapter undertakes a comparative analysis of penal policies pertaining to the accommodation of transgender offenders in Australia, Canada, England, Wales and the USA. It illustrates how transgender prisoners challenge the normative aspects of penal policies based on a socially prescribed gender binary. 'Gender identity' is pivotal within penal policies. The International Commission of Jurists and the International Service for Human Rights define it as an individual's internal and personal experience of gender, which may differ from their natal sex. Transgender prisoners present a unique challenge to the gender binary prison estate exacerbating negative gendered experience for them. Penal placement policies are based on either genitalia-based placement or identity-based placement. The New South Wales (NSW) progressive approach allows transgender inmates to have their own toilet and shower facilities and permits the wearing of gender appropriate clothing. Gender Recognition Act (GRA) 2004 established the Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) enabling holders to change transgender individual's British birth certificate to their acquired gender.
