The Women safety division of the Ministry of home affairs issued an advisory dated 10th January 2021 regarding Treatment and Care of Transgender Persons in Prisons.
The advisory issues guidelines for the welfare and the rights of the trans community in prisons. The aim is to make prison inclusive for the community. The advisory asks for a separate shower area and cells so that they can maintain their privacy.
Further, they can ask the prison authorities to apply for a transgender certificate through National Portal for Transgender Persons to avail welfare measures.
Link: https://transgender.dosje.gov.in/
The prison authorities are also advised to include a third category of gender in their list, even if the court hasn't recognised it. The superintendent will the assistance of legal service authorities can assist the person to make an application for a change in gender identity.
One of the most important parts this advisory mention is; who can search for a transgender person.
"Search of Transgender prisoners: The search of a transgender person may be conducted by a person of their preferred gender or by a trained medical professional or a para-medic with necessary training on conducting the search. The person conducting the search must ensure the safety, privacy and dignity of the person being searched. At the stage where the search procedure requires stripping, it must be done in a private room or partition. The search procedure should be confined to compliance with security protocols and restriction of contraband and should not be aimed at determining the gender of the person."
Fact: This is an advisory because the prisons come in the concurrent list of the Indian Constitution. It means that both the centre and state can make the rules on this issue.
The Advisory has been attached for a detailed read.
