We can all rage at the spectacle of female athletes shoved off podia by cheating men like Lia Thomas, or shudder at the flesh-creeping horror of women waking on hospital wards to find a bewigged bloke in the next bed. Those are the headline-grabbing obscenities of transgenderism. But prisons are, as campaigner and author Helen Joyce puts it, a “black box.” Few of us have ever been banged up, lived with the petty degradations of locked doors and canteen food. Yet what happens inside the 122 prisons of England and Wales deserves attention — not least because, however reviled or even dangerous, prisoners remain an acutely vulnerable population.
And here lies the paradox: prisons are meant to uphold the law by punishing those who break it, yet His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service is itself in breach. Despite this year’s Supreme Court ruling that men must be excluded from women’s facilities, male offenders who simply declare themselves “women” are still housed on E Wing, a specialist unit within the women-only HMP Downview.
HMP Downview lies within the constituency of Rebecca Paul MP, who has been relentless in challenging the government over this scandal. She has warned that male prisoners are mixing with women in work, education, and religious settings at the facility. She told me:
It is shocking that in this day and age women are being locked up with dangerous men. And on top of that, these men are not even being adequately supervised when mixing with the women. Not only is this situation unlawful, but it’s downright dangerous and shows no regard or duty of care for the female prisoners.
E Wing is undoubtedly part of HMP Downview, a women’s prison, however much this Government pretends it’s not. These men must be moved out of the women’s prison estate asap.
Earlier this month Paul wrote to the then Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood to demand why dangerous men were being housed in the women’s estate, pointing out that the crimes and needs of women in prison differ starkly from those of men.
Women in prison might not be a cuddly bunch, but their challenges are undeniable. Around seven in ten have suffered domestic abuse, and they are seven times more likely to self-harm than male prisoners. Women make up just 4 per cent of the total prison population, and two-thirds are inside for non-violent offences. By contrast, nearly three-quarters of male offenders who identify as women are behind bars for rape, child abuse, grievous bodily harm, or robbery. The justice system treats such men as if they were vulnerable; in fact, they are overwhelmingly the predators.
Thanks to the toxic touch of transgenderism, women’s prisons are no longer governed by rules
In August ministers confirmed that seven male prisoners are currently housed at HMP Downview. More widely across the male estate, there are 225 incarcerated men who identify as women. E Wing was created in 2019 after the convicted rapist Karen White allegedly preyed on women he was locked up with.
Tracking prisoners’ whereabouts is no easy task. Unless you are family, a friend, or the prison is named in open court, the public is kept in the dark once the van door slams shut. But some names surface, and they paint a disturbing picture.
One such man is Zoe Watts, a former Lincolnshire PCSO and UNISON equalities officer with a long record of weapons offences. In 2021, he was jailed after police discovered an improvised explosive device along with knives and other prohibited items. When officers raided his home again in December 2024, they found a crossbow, more knives, parts for 3D-printed guns, and a search history asking: “Has anybody been killed by a 3D-printed gun?”
When he was imprisoned for a second time, a campaign by trans activists sought to transfer him to the female estate. In June 2025 he was convicted of attempting to manufacture a prohibited weapon and, in August, sentenced to eight years six months. While his exact placement remains unconfirmed, he reportedly gave testimony from HMP Downview.
Watts has a well-documented animus towards gender-critical women. On his YouTube channel, he once smashed a watermelon marked with Germaine Greer’s face using a nail-studded baseball bat. Yet despite his disturbing record and misogynistic obsessions, it seems highly likely the trans activist campaign to lock him up with women was successful.
Prisons are stark reminders that justice is universal and non-negotiable, that our rights as citizens are not unbounded. Yet in the very places built to uphold it, the law is being flouted. Thanks to the toxic touch of transgenderism, women’s prisons are no longer governed by rules, but by exceptions — exceptions that endanger the very people the state has a duty to protect. Ultimately, if prisons won’t abide by the law, what chance does the rest of Britain have?
