A policy of placing trans women in female prisons unlawfully discriminates against other women by exposing them to an increased risk of sexual assault, the High Court has been told.
A female prisoner, known only as FDJ, is bringing a legal challenge against a Ministry of Justice policy.
It allows prisoners to be housed according to their gender identity 'irrespective of whether they have taken any legal or medical steps to acquire that gender'.
The woman argues the policy indirectly and unlawfully discriminates against women who were born that gender.
At a High Court hearing on Tuesday, lawyers for FDJ argued that accommodating transgender women in the female prison estate 'exposes female prisoners to a risk of sexual assault that would not arise absent that allocation'.