Are male sex offenders exploiting transgender rights?

 

Transgender rapist - Karen White

Are male sex offenders exploiting transgender rights? In 2018, the feminist organisation 'Fair Play for Women' claimed that some 41% of trans-women in prison were there for sexual offences.

In January 2022, the Conservative MP, Tim Loughton, tabled a question about this in the House of Commons and he was told by Victoria Atkins, a justice minister, that the proportion of male-born trans-women in the prison system who are sex offenders, was between 60% and 61.3%. This figure is significantly higher than the 41% figure claimed by Fair Play for Women, and the figure of 18% of the general population held in male prisons who are jailed for sexual offences.

An article about this in the Spectator, suggests that what the figures show is not that 'trans people' are more likely than others to commit sexual offences, but that men who commit sexual offences, are more likely than others to claim to be transgender.