The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) is calling on the South Australian Government to immediately ban biological men from women’s prisons, following reports that a female inmate was sexually assaulted by a male prisoner identifying as female at Port Augusta Women’s Prison.
ACL’s South Australian Director Ashlyn Vice said the incident was a tragically predictable consequence of allowing men to self-identify into women’s facilities.
“Self-identification policies, including those allowing men convicted of sexual assault to be placed in women’s prisons, are a direct threat to women’s safety and dignity,” Vice said.
This horrific event could have been prevented. Housing inmates according to gender identity rather than biological sex defies common sense and basic principles of safety.
The Australian Christian Lobby has long raised concerns about the dangers of self-identification policies across the country and is now urging Premier Peter Malinauskas to take decisive action.
This is not about inclusion – it’s about protection. Women have fought for decades for safe spaces; they should not be forced to share them with men, particularly those with histories of sexual violence.
ACL stands with Women’s Forum Australia in calling for a review of prison placement policies nationwide, following similar concerns raised in Victoria after a male sex offender was housed in a women’s prison.
